Verona Skomski honored with CEHS Staff Star Award

13 Jun 2023    

Verona Skomski, administrative coordinator for the Nebraska Center for the Prevention of Obesity Diseases (NPOD) in the Department of Nutrition and Health Sciences, has been named the recipient of the latest Staff Star Award by the College of Education and Human Sciences Staff Council. 

In her role, Skomski coordinates activities in biomedical research centers at Nebraska, along with the University of Nebraska Medical Center and Creighton University. According to her nominator, no such activities existed until she joined NPOD.

“Verona is flexible in her work hours. Our center frequently holds events in evenings and on weekends, and Verona is eager to make herself available,” wrote her nominator. “She is self-sufficient and motivated to an extent that goes far beyond what I have seen in her predecessors.”

NPOD was launched in August of 2014 as a Center of Biomedical Research Excellence with support from the National Institutes of Health. Skomski has been instrumental in keeping the NPOD going and has enabled the center director to sustain an externally funded lab. NPOD has generated more than $140 million in external funding, led to the hire of nine new faculty in tenure-leading positions, and more than 400 peer-reviewed original peer-reviewed research publications.

The Staff Star Award recognizes staff members who go above and beyond their scope of duties. To nominate a staff member for a Staff Star Award, click here. The next deadline for nominations is July 31.