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4/2/2008

Rebekah Drezek first bioengineer to receive ASP Research Award
Young researcher honored for advances in molecular imaging technologies

BY SHAWN HUTCHINS
Special to the Rice News

Rebekah Drezek is the first bioengineer to receive the prestigious American Society for Photobiology (ASP) Research Award.

REBEKAH DREZEK

Drezek, associate professor in bioengineering and in electrical and computer engineering, was selected for her major contributions as a young scientist to the fields of photobiology, photochemistry and photophysics. She will receive the award at the society’s annual meeting in San Francisco in June.   

Research conducted in Drezek’s group focuses on the development of photonics-based molecular imaging technologies for the screening, diagnosis and monitoring of disease. For 10 years, her collaborative projects with the Texas Medical Center have emphasized design, prototyping and clinical testing of inexpensive, portable imaging tools that provide high-resolution in-situ imaging of the molecular hallmarks of cancer.

In 2007, Drezek was one of three U.S. scientists chosen to receive the Era of Hope Scholar Award by the Department of Defense’s Congressionally Directed Breast Cancer Research Program. Other notable honors she has received include being named to the 2004 MIT TR100 list, Technology Reviews’ selection of 100 top innovators under 35 and receiving the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation Becton Dickinson Career Achievement Award in 2005; and the Beckman Young Investigator Award, also in 2005. She was also one of four scientists invited to speak on nanotechnology at the National Academy of Engineering Frontiers of Engineering annual meeting in 2006.

Drezek has a BSE degree in electrical engineering from Duke University and a doctorate in Electrical Engineering from the University of Texas-Austin.

The ASP promotes research in photobiology, integration of different photobiology disciplines and dissemination of photobiology knowledge, and it provides information on photobiological aspects of national and international issues.