Society Awards 2015

The H. R. Lissner Medal recognizes outstanding achievements in the field of bioengineering. These achievements may be in the form of (1) significant research contributions in bioengineering; (2) development of new methods of measuring in bioengineering; (3) design of new equipment and instrumentation in bioengineering; (4) educational impact in the training of bioengineers; and/or (5) service to the bioengineering community, in general, and to the Bioengineering Division of ASME, in particular. The Bioengineering Division of ASME established the H. R. Lissner Award as a divisional award in 1977. It was upgraded to a society award in 1987, made possible by a donation from the Wayne State University and is named in honor of Professor H. R. Lissner of the Wayne State University for his pioneering work in biomechanics that began in 1939.

The 2015 Lissner Medal winner is Dr. James A. Ashton-Miller, Ph.D. Dr. Ashton-Miller is an Associate Vice President for Research for the University of Michigan and the Albert Schultz Collegiate Research Professor and Distinguished Research Scientist in the Departments of Mechanical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, and Internal Medicine, the Institute of Gerontology, and the School of Kinesiology. Dr. Ashton-Miller directs the Biomechanics Research Laboratory where he, his students, and his colleagues use experimental and theoretical biomechanical approaches, advanced imaging, anatomic dissections and histology, clinical studies, and inventions to better understand the mechanism of unintentional injuries. Dr. Ashton-Miller serves on an NCAA panel concerned with baseball bat performance and safety and an ASTM panel concerned with improving building skylight safety standards to prevent fall-throughs to serious injury or death. He has published over 250 peer-reviewed papers and a dozen book chapters. Dr. Ashton-Miller is the Chair-Elect of the Health Sciences section of the Gerontological Society of America. As Associate Vice President for Research at the University of Michigan, he is responsible for research policy and compliance. Dr. Ashton-Miller has contributed a paper to this Annual Special Issue.

The Van C. Mow Medal is bestowed upon an individual who has made significant contributions to the field of bioengineering through research, education, professional development, leadership in the development of the professor, as a mentor to young bioengineers, and with service to the bioengineering community. The individual must have earned a Ph.D. or equivalent degree between 10 and 20 years prior to June 1 of the year of the award. The award was established by the Bioengineering Division in 2004.

The 2015 Van C. Mow Award winner is Dawn M. Elliott, Ph.D. Dr. Elliott is a professor and the founding chair of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Delaware. Prior to joining Delaware in 2011, she spent 12 years in the University of Pennsylvania's Departments of Orthopaedic Surgery and Bioengineering, where she was promoted to full professor. Dr. Elliott earned a doctoral degree in biomedical engineering from the Duke University, a master's degree in engineering mechanics from the University of Cincinnati, and a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Michigan. Dr. Elliott is a leader in the field of musculoskeletal biomechanics. Her research focuses on the changes that occur in load-bearing fibrous tissues, such as disk, meniscus, and tendon, during development, with degeneration and injury, and following therapeutic interventions. Her multiscale approach, from the entire joint-level to the tissue-scale and to the microscale, integrates mechanical testing, mathematical modeling, and multimodal imaging. In 2015, Dr. Elliott was awarded the inaugural Outstanding Achievement in Mentoring Award from the Orthopaedic Research Society. She is also a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering and currently serves on the executive boards of the International Society for the Study of Lumbar Spine, the Council of Chairs of Biomedical Engineering, the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES), and on the board of directors of The Perry Initiative, a nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing the role of women in engineering and medicine. Dr. Elliott has contributed a paper to this Annual Special Issue.

The Y. C. Fung Young Investigator Award is given to a young investigator who is under age 36 on or before June 1 of the year of the nomination and has received a Ph.D. or equivalent bioengineering degree within 7 years prior to their nomination. The individual must be committed to pursuing research in and have demonstrated significant potential to make substantial contributions to the field of bioengineering. Such accomplishments may take the form of, but are not limited to, design or development of new methods, equipment, or instrumentation in bioengineering and research publications in peer-reviewed journals. The award was established by the Bioengineering Division in 1985 and operated as a division award until 1998 when it was elevated to a society award.

The 2015 Fung Award winner is Dr. Adam J. Engler, Ph.D. Dr. Engler is an Associate Professor of Bioengineering at the University of California, San Diego, where he has been on the faculty since 2008. Dr. Engler is also a resident scientist at the Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine. He has previously trained with Dr. Dennis Discher at the University of Pennsylvania, where he earned his Ph.D. studying how ECM stiffness regulated stem cell fate. Dr. Engler also completed a postdoctoral fellowship with Dr. Jean Schwarzbauer at the Princeton University's Department of Molecular Biology. His current research focuses on how physical and chemical properties of the niche influence stem cell function and misregulate muscle function and heart performance during disease and aging. Dr. Engler's lab makes natural and synthetic matrices with unique spatiotemporal properties to mimic niche conditions to improve stem cell behavior and commitment in vitro for their therapeutic use in vivo. His lab also studies these processes in vivo with rapidly aging model systems using Drosophila. Dr. Engler was the 2008 recipient of the Rupert Timpl Award from the International Society for Matrix Biology. He is also a recipient of an NIH Innovator Award, the Rita Schaeffer Award from BMES, and was the inaugural recipient of the Renato Iozzo Award from the American Society for Matrix Biology in 2014. Dr. Engler has contributed a paper to this Annual Special Issue.