Rebecca Richards-Kortum, Rice University Profoessor
Rebecca Richards-Kortum specializes in creating new technologies to provide health care to vulnerable populations, including methods for diagnosis of cancers, methods for treating jaundice in newborns, and a bubble continuous positive airway pressure machine for premature infants unable to breathe on their own. In recognition of her work, Richards-Kortum received a MacArthur Fellowship in 2016. She was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2008 and the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2015. In 2016 she received the Pierre Galletti Award, the highest honor from the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering and has received more grants than any other Rice University Professor.
Gracie Vargas, UT Medical Branch Professor
Gracie Vargas received her Ph.D. in biomedical engineering at UT Austin and was recruited to UTMB in 2002 as an Assistant Professor and rose through the ranks to tenured Professor. An elected fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, Dr. Vargas is an internationally recognized expert in biomedical optics/biomedical engineering with committee service that guides the direction of national research in medical imaging and bioinstrumentation. In addition to her outstanding record of scientific innovation, Dr. Vargas is dedicated to mentoring the next generation of scientists and strengthening the diversity of the biomedical workforce. Her mentoring and research have enduring value, and she is a highly valued and respected member of UTMB and the community at large.
