Two University of Oregon faculty have been recognized for their efforts by Oregon Health & Science University’s (OHSU) Medical Research Foundation of Oregon.
On Friday, Oct. 2, Marian Hettiaratchi, Lary Simpson Associate Professor of Bioengineering at the Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact (as well as a full member of the Materials Science Institute and is an associate member of the UO’s Institute of Molecular Biology and Institute of Neuroscience), will receive the Richard T. Jones New Investigator Award. Alongside, John Seeley, the Castle-McIntosh-Knight Professor of Education and executive director of the HEDCO Institute for Evidence-Based Educational Practice in the College of Education at the University of Oregon, will receive the Discovery Award.
These awards are among the state’s highest honors in biomedical science and are open to faculty in Oregon’s public universities. Two professors of medicine at OHSU are also recognized.
Richard T. Jones New Investigator Award
Hettiaratchi’s research draws on bioengineering, materials science, molecular biology, and neuroscience. Her lab focuses on developing hydrogel-based controlled release systems, leveraging peptides with protein-binding affinities. This innovative technology addresses significant challenges in therapeutic delivery for a wide range of biomedical applications, from spinal cord injury treatments to bone regeneration. These findings are transforming regenerative medicine by offering highly controlled delivery systems that improve the effectiveness of protein-based therapies.
Her nominator for the award wrote, “Marian Hettiaratchi is an outstanding scientist and mentor whose work is transforming bioengineering. Her dedication extends beyond her research and teaching to her service to the academic and professional communities.”
Discovery Award
Seeley is an internationally recognized expert in developmental psychopathology whose scholarship has focused on the epidemiology, prevention, and treatment of mental health conditions, including substance misuse and suicidality among youth and young adults. His team’s groundbreaking work has focused on developing, testing and scaling up effective school and community-based behavioral health interventions. His paradigm-changing work on behavioral interventions has helped to improve the behavioral health of youth and young adults not only here in Oregon, but across the world. Seeley is also a scientist emeritus at the Oregon Research Institute and a senior scientist at the Oregon Research Behavioral Intervention Strategies.
His nominator for the award wrote, “Dr. Seeley’s scholarship has employed innovative designs to address critical behavioral health challenges, and has demonstrated the value of technology-based behavioral health interventions, particularly when working in school- and community-based settings, or in rural settings, where in-person implementation may not be feasible.”