Tapan Mehta, Ph.D., M.S., vice chair of research within the UAB Department of Family and Community Medicine, was one of four faculty members honored with the 2025 UAB Graduate Dean’s Excellence in Mentorship Award in recognition of his exceptional contributions as both a steadfast mentor and inspiring educator.
“It is truly humbling to receive this honor and the trust of my outstanding trainees, team members, and colleagues,” said Mehta. “I am deeply grateful for the mentors who have guided me throughout my academic journey and for the trainees, team members, and colleagues who have enriched my experiences. One of the greatest joys of my job is the opportunity to mentor and support scholars, and to build strong, collaborative teams.”
His colleagues and mentees alike recognize the profound influence of Mehta’s mentorship.
“Dr. Mehta’s humility, patience, and approachable nature create a supportive and welcoming environment,” explained graduate research assistant Tanjila Nawshin, a Ph.D. student in Health Services Administration and one of Mehta’s mentees. “He has a remarkable ability to break down complex concepts, making them easily understandable to early-stage researchers. This fosters confidence among his mentees, encouraging us to ask insightful questions and tackle challenging research problems with enthusiasm. Beyond actively including us in the grant-writing process for his own studies, Dr. Mehta also encourages mentees to develop and submit our own proposals, fostering our growth as independent researchers.”
Erin DeLaney, M.D., associate professor and vice chair of clinical affairs and quality for Family and Community Medicine added, “As a colleague, I have observed the many qualities of Dr. Mehta's character that make him an exceptional role model and mentor. He is hardworking, serving as principal investigator on numerous studies while also balancing his roles as vice chair of research for the department and mentor to many. He is kind and approachable yet also committed to excellence petitioning for the best. The community at large will continue to reap the benefits of his mentorship year over year.”
Mehta started his research career as a graduate research assistant at UAB more than 20 years ago. His background includes degrees in engineering and biostatistics, and his interdisciplinary academic work informs his research as Mehta seeks to build systems and utilize data in improving outcomes through his clinical and health services projects to optimize scalable primary care based chronic disease management programs for communities within Alabama and beyond. Currently, Mehta co-leads the Nutrition Obesity Research Center (NORC) Behavioral Science and Analytics Core and the Methods and Health Informatics Core of Building and InnovatinG: Digital HeAlth Technology and Analytics (BIG DATA) and co-leads the HEART-NET — Health Enhancement through Access and Research in Transformative Networks — primary care research network.
The annual award recognizes full-time regular UAB faculty members who have demonstrated exceptional accomplishments as mentors of graduate students and/or postdoctoral fellows. The first Dean’s Excellence in Mentorship Awards were presented in 2008.