2010 IBB Hamill and Medical Innovations Awards and Morse Graduate Fellowship

The recipients for the 2010 IBB Hamill and Medical Innovations Awards and Morse Fellowships were honored at the IBB Awards Ceremony on Tuesday, August 10th at the BRC 172.

The Institute of Biosciences and Bioengineering is pleased to announce the recipients of the Hamill Awards, now in its sixth year, funding the initiation of new collaborative research projects led by faculty of the Institute of Biosciences and Bioengineering at Rice. The teams chosen to receive an IBB Hamill Award this year are:

• Dr. Dmitri O. Lapotko, Rice University Faculty Fellow of Physics and Astronomy, Director of US-Balarussian Lab, Fundamental/Appl’d Nanophotonics, and Dr. Daniel S. Wagner, Rice University Assistant Professor of Biochemistry & Cell Biology, for their project, “Cell Theranostics with Tunable Plasmonic Nanobubbles.”
• Dr. K. Jane Grande-Allen, Rice University Associate Professor of Bioengineering, and Dr. Deepak Nagrath, Rice University Assistant Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, for their project, “Glycolytic Metabolic Profiling of Mechanically Stimulated and Diseased Aortic Valve Cells.”
• Dr. Pulickel Ajayan, Rice University Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Material Science, and Dr. Rafael Verduzco, Rice University Assistant Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, for their project, “Biomimetic Reconfigurable Hairy Nanocomposite Skins.”
  
  The Institute of Biosciences and Bioengineering is pleased to announce the recipients of the IBB Medical Innovations Awards, now in its fourth year, funding new research collaborations between Rice faculty and researchers within the Texas Medical Center.  This program represents Rice’s commitment to enhancing interactions with our partner institutions in the Texas Medical Center.  The teams chosen to receive an IBB Medical Innovations Award this year are:

• Dr. Sibani Lisa Biswal, Rice University Assistant Professor of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, and Dr. Dario Marchetti, Baylor College of Medicine Professor of Pathology and Molecular and Cellular Biology and Director of Cell Search CTC Core Facility, and Dr. Richard Willson, University of Houston Moores Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and Biochemical and Biophysical Sciences, for their project, “Engineering a Magnetic Particle Array for the Detection, Purification, and Characterization of Blood-circulating Tumor Cells.”
• Dr. Marcia K. O’Malley, Rice University Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science and Computer Science, and Dr. Mary R. Newsome, Baylor College of Medicine Assistant Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, for their project, “Brain Reorganization after Constraint-induced Movement Therapy Augmented with Rice-Wrist Exoskeleton Robot for Individuals with Stroke.”
• Dr. Laura Segatori, Rice University T.N. Law Assistant Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Biochemistry and Cell Biology and Bioengineering, and Dr. Kevin Morano, University of Texas Medical School Associate Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, for their project, “The Deg-On System: Generation of a Chemical and Genetic High Throughput Assay for Proteasome Activation.”
  

The Mary Frances Dunnam Morse Graduate Fellowship is administered by Rice’s IBB and this fund is intended "to support graduate students in biosciences and bioengineering and help support research that will improve the quality of life for those suffering from disease and illness." $1,000 prizes were awarded to two graduate students this year. Students should have demonstrated excellence in academic achievement and scholarly research, with clear dedication to research related to improved healthcare. This year’s 2010 Mary Frances Dunnam Morse Graduate Fellows are Lina Mountziaris and Lissett Bickford.

 The Rice News reported on the awards ceremony, for their story please click here.  Also, see the recent award ceremony flyer and for past awards click here.