13 Carbone Cancer Center researchers earn prestigious campus and national awards

On the national front, Ryan Brown, an undergraduate researcher in the laboratory of UW Carbone’s Zachary Morris, was one of three UW–Madison students to earn a Barry Goldwater Scholarship. The Goldwater Scholarship is awarded for excellence in the sciences to sophomore and junior undergraduates across the country and provides up to $7500 of tuition support. Brown will use the award to conduct research in a regenerative medicine lab at the University of Cambridge this summer.

The other 12 honors were awarded by the UW–Madison. The UW Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Education (OVCRGE) and the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) announced the funded projects for Round 5 of the UW2020 initiative. UW2020 awards are given to stimulate and support highly innovative research at UW–Madison. Five of the 17 projects funded in this round will be led by UW Carbone members, including:

• An “omics” database linking genomic, proteomic and metabolomics data with clinical data and banked tissues and other specimens, led by Mark Burkard with Irene Ong
• Acquisition of an instrument, an LC-MSMS, that will propel discovery of new drug therapies, led by Sam Gellman
• Creation of graphics processing unit (GPU) resources across campus to advance data science technologies, led by Anthony Gitter
• Development of nanoparticles to optimize personalized tumor vaccines, led by Zachary Morris with Sarah Gong
• Opening a campus-wide microscopy facility with advanced capabilities in imaging living cells and tissues for hours or days, led by Beth Weaver, with Anjon Audhya, Mark Burkard, Kevin Eliceiri, Aussie Suzuki and Nathan Sherer

Four UW Carbone members were among the 32 UW–Madison faculty honored with fellowships through the OCVRGE and funded by WARF. These awards highlight faculty efforts to support research, teaching, outreach and public service missions of the university. Chemistry professor Helen Blackwell earned a WARF named professorship (the recipient chooses the name associated with their professorship); radiology professor Weibo Cai and Morgridge Investigator Dave Pagliarini were both named H.I. Romnes Faculty Fellows; and McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research professor Wei Xu earned a Kellett Mid-Career award.

Lastly, three UW Carbone members were recently honored with Vilas Professorships and Awards, supported by the estate of professor, U.S. Senator and UW Regent William F. Vilas. Chemical and Biological Engineering professor Eric Shusta was named a Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor, a five-year award recognizing distinguished scholarship, teaching and service. Weipang Tang, a professor in the School of Pharmacy, earned a Vilas Faculty Mid-Career Investigator Award, a one-year award that recognizes research and teaching excellence. And Jiaoyang Jiang, also with the School of Pharmacy, earned a Vilas Faculty Early Career Investigator Award, also a one-year award that recognizes research and teaching efforts of early-career faculty.