Newswise — DALLAS – Dec. 11, 2013 – The Academy of Medicine, Engineering and Science of Texas (TAMEST) selected Dr. Richard Bruick, Associate Professor of Biochemistry at UT Southwestern Medical Center, as one of four recipients of the 2014 Edith and Peter O’Donnell Awards, which recognize rising Texas researchers.
Dr. Bruick, who studies factors that affect the critical iron and oxygen balance in cells, will be honored Jan. 16 during TAMEST’s 11th annual conference near Austin.
TAMEST presents four Edith and Peter O’Donnell Awards each year – in medicine, science, engineering, and technological innovation – to recognize Texas researchers whose work exemplifies excellence in advancing understanding of important unmet needs. Each award consists of a $25,000 honorarium, a citation, a trophy, and an invitation to speak at the conference.
“The O’Donnell awards highlight some of the most promising research being carried out in Texas today,” said Dr. Daniel K. Podolsky, President of UT Southwestern. “In defining some of the most critical determinants regulating basic cell function, Dr. Bruick’s discoveries can serve as a foundation for development of new therapeutic paradigms with potential impact in a range of disorders.”
Dr. Bruick, honored in the medicine field, researches cellular responses to maintain oxygen and iron homeostasis that have helped lay the foundation for the development of small molecule therapeutics. These hold the potential to provide improved treatments for anemia, renal cancers, and iron overload disorders.
“I am deeply honored to receive this award, which reflects the efforts of many talented lab members and colleagues. I’m incredibly grateful for the support my work has received at UT Southwestern, starting with my postdoctoral research in the laboratory of Biochemistry Chair Dr. Steven McKnight,” said Dr. Bruick, a Michael L. Rosenberg Scholar in Biomedical Research at UT Southwestern. “Our studies have greatly benefited from the vision of UT Southwestern leadership who created resources such as the High Throughput Screening (HTS) facility, providing us with opportunities to move our basic science discoveries toward clinical applications.”
Dr. Bruick said the HTS facility, which makes it possible to sort through hundreds of thousands of chemicals for those with favorable attributes, is just one of several shared facilities across campus that allow researchers access to advanced technology that would be prohibitively expensive for any one researcher, particularly for early-career investigators.
The awards, first presented in 2006, are named in honor of the O’Donnells, who are among the state’s staunchest advocates for excellence in scientific advancement and STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education.
About UT Southwestern Medical Center
UT Southwestern, one of the premier academic medical centers in the nation, integrates pioneering biomedical research with exceptional clinical care and education. The institution’s faculty has many distinguished members, including five who have been awarded Nobel Prizes since 1985. Numbering more than 2,700, the faculty is responsible for groundbreaking medical advances and is committed to translating science-driven research quickly to new clinical treatments. UT Southwestern physicians provide medical care in 40 specialties to nearly 90,000 hospitalized patients and oversee more than 1.9 million outpatient visits a year.
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