Rob Cahill, a senior media relations specialist at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, has been named the Public Relations Communicator of the Year by the Houston Press Club.

Cahill received the prize June 6 during the Houston Press Club 2008 Lone Star Awards Dinner at the University of Houston Hilton Hotel. Judges described Cahill’s work done in the previous year as “good, solid, matter-of-fact reporting on issues affecting the medical center and the community.” This is the second time Cahill has received this distinction. Just two years ago, the Houston Press Club named him a Lone Star Award winner for PR Communicator the Year.

“Rob has a gift for presenting the most complicated scientific information in a way that everyone can understand,” said Meredith Raine, interim director of media relations at the UT Health Science Center at Houston. “This award is proof of his vast skills as an effective communicator. It is well-deserved, and we thank the Houston Press Club for recognizing Rob’s hard work and dedication to promoting scientific news at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.”  

Cahill joined the university’s Media Relations Team in the Office of Institutional Advancement in December 2006. He publicizes much of the university’s news about medical genetics and biomedical sciences, nanotechnology, health informatics, stem cell research and discoveries in basic science. Before joining the staff at the UT Health Science Center at Houston, Cahill was a public service coordinator for the University of Houston, an account executive for a communications firm and a public affairs specialist at Christus-St. Joseph Hospital, which is now St. Joseph Medical Center. He started his career as a newspaper reporter, working at the San Antonio Light and Laredo News.

— Meredith Raine, Institutional Advancement

Date Posted: 6/13/2008