Two School of Public Health Faculty Named 2025 Shine Academy inductees

Last week, The University of Texas System recognized four outstanding UTHealth Houston faculty for their teaching excellence and commitment to enhancing health science education by inducting them into the 2025 class of The University of Texas Kenneth I. Shine, MD, Academy of Health Science Education. 

UTHealth Houston School of Public Health Honorees:

• Christine Markham, PhD, with UTHealth Houston School of Public Health
• José-Miguel Yamal, PhD, with UTHealth Houston School of Public Health and MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth Houston Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences

Membership in the University of Texas Kenneth I. Shine, MD, Academy of Health Science Education is bestowed annually on outstanding faculty across UT System’s academic health institutions. UTHealth Houston’s recipients were formally inducted into the academy during a ceremony on Feb. 20-21 in Austin.

Christine Markham, PhD

As chair of the department of Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences at UTHealth Houston School of Public Health, Markham has more than 30 years of experience in the development, implementation, evaluation, and dissemination of child and adolescent health promotion interventions.

Beyond her role as chair, she is the Allan King Professor in Public Health at the School of Public Health. She is also deputy director for the Texas Prevention Research Center at UTHealth Houston.

“Chris’ primary educational goal has always been to inspire and train her students to become the next generation of effective leaders in public health research and practice. I count myself among the many students who have been inspired by her passion for theory-based intervention development and behavioral science research,” said Melissa Fleschler Peskin, PhD, MS, professor, vice chair of Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences, and assistant dean of students at the School of Public Health.

Coming to UTHealth Houston in 1996 to complete her PhD, Markham became a faculty member in 2002. She has extensive research experience and is committed to leadership in health science education and curriculum design, as well as course delivery in multiple formats.

“During her lengthy and distinguished career at UTHealth Houston, Dr. Markham’s exemplary contributions to teaching, mentoring, scholarly research, and educational leadership make her an ideal member of the Shine Academy,” said Eric Boerwinkle, PhD, MS, MA, dean of the School of Public Health, M. David Low Chair in Public Health, Kozmetsky Family Chair in Human Genetics, and professor of the Center for Human Genetics and Department of Epidemiology.

Among her many accolades in education, Markham has been honored twice with the John P. McGovern Outstanding Teacher Award, twice with the student-nominated Award for Excellence in Academic Advising, The University of Texas System Board of Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award, and twice with the UTHealth Houston School of Public Health’s Teaching Excellence Award. She’s also received the R. Palmer Beasley, MD, Faculty Award for Innovation; the American Public Health Association’s Public Health Education Materials Award; and the Piper Professor Award from the Minnie Stevens Piper Foundation in 2023.

José-Miguel Yamal, PhD

A winner of the 2023 Distinguished Achievement Award from the Teaching Statistics in the Health Sciences Section of the American Statistical Association (ASA), José-Miguel Yamal, PhD, joined UTHealth Houston in 2009 as an assistant professor. He is currently the director of the Coordinating Center for Clinical Trials, professor of biostatistics at UTHealth Houston School of Public Health, and a faculty member at MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth Houston Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences.

Yamal has been awarded multiple teaching awards and elected to several health associations throughout his career. He was elected as chair of the ASA's on Teaching of Statistics in the Health Sciences from 2015-18, and he served as a council of sections representative with the same association from 2019-21. Yamal is also the winner of the 2019 The University of Texas School of Public Health Excellence in Teaching Award.

Yamal said he believes teachers are critical in fostering the intellectual development of future leaders.

“In our increasingly data-driven world, the use of statistics is ubiquitous, and the need for a statistically literate population is becoming more apparent,” he said. “I have seized this opportunity to make a sustained and broad impact by inspiring students to be intellectually curious and think critically about public health problems, and I teach the necessary skills to address those problems.”

Throughout his career, Yamal has focused on being an effective communicator who seeks to both learn from and teach UTHealth Houston students.

“Dr. Yamal is an exemplary nationally recognized public health faculty member who has contributed significantly to our school’s threefold mission, and who has consistently shown excellence in teaching, mentorship, and research across public health disciplines at our school, as well as aligned with the vision of the institution,” Eric Boerwinkle said. “Based on his determined efforts to improve teaching and mentoring within his department, as well as across our school, and his indelible mark on our students, many of whom are now promising public health professionals and statisticians in their own right, I can think of no one more deserving of this prestigious award than Dr. Yamal.”

About the Shine Academy

The University of Texas Academy of Health Science Education was founded in 2005 and was renamed in honor of former UT System executive vice chancellor for Health Affairs Kenneth I. Shine, MD, when he retired. Members of the Shine Academy are recognized as outstanding scholars and leaders in education from across all UT System’s health-related institutions.