James Frank, Megan Ruhland receive PMedIC Innovation awards
The annual Precision Medicine Innovation Co-Laboratory Innovation Grant supports collaborative pilot projects annually between OHSU and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory researchers as part of the formal partnership called PMedIC.
For fiscal year 2027, two $50,000 grants were awarded to OHSU and PNNL research teams:
James Frank, Ph.D., associate professor of chemical physiology and biochemistry in the OHSU School of Medicine with a joint appointment at the OHSU Vollum Institute, and Vivian Lin, Ph.D., chemist with PNNL, for the project, “Development of Bifunctional Phytocannabinoid Probes for Proteome-Wide Target Identification.”
Despite CBD’s, or cannabidiol’s, massive therapeutic potential for treating seizures and inflammation, scientists still don’t fully understand how it works at a cellular level because it interacts with a complex, tangled web of multiple receptors throughout the body. To solve this problem, Frank and Lin are developing the first photo-affinity probe for CBD that will identify CBD-interacting proteins in living cells via an advanced technique called Affinity-Based Protein Profiling. This innovative tool will finally decode CBD’s complex pharmacology and pave the way for more targeted treatments.
Megan Ruhland, Ph.D., assistant professor of cell, developmental and cancer biology at OHSU, in collaboration with Ljiljana Pasa-Tolic, Ph.D., lab fellow and project manager with PNNL, and Yumi Kwon, Ph.D., chemist at PNNL, for the project, “Profiling antigen-specific endosomal proteomes to decode defective tumor antigen presentation.”
Immunotherapy has transformed cancer treatment, yet many patients still fail to achieve lasting benefits. Inside a tumor, immune cells must sort through a confusing mix of signals from cancer cells, healthy cells and bacteria, and this complexity can prevent them from activating an effective anti-tumor response. To address this challenge, Ruhland, Paša Tolić and Kwon will study how immune cells process different types of antigens simultaneously at the single cell level. Their approach uses advanced tools to track how multiple antigens are handled within a single immune cell, addressing the internal competition that suppresses anti-tumor immunity. The insights from this work will ultimately pave the way for smarter, more potent immunotherapies.
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Matt Chan earns 2026 Exemplary Teaching award
Matt Chan, M.D., assistant professor of family medicine in the OHSU School of Medicine, has been selected by the American Academy of Family Physicians board of directors as the recipient of the 2026 Exemplary Teaching Award for Continuing Professional Development.
The Academy established this award in 1997 to acknowledge outstanding accomplishments in continuing medical education and professional development, as well as the use of innovative tactics and curriculum and exemplary teaching skills and knowledge of material. Chan’s visionary leadership in point-of-care ultrasound training is a notable example of what excellence in medical education and professional development looks like.
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Andrew Wang, OHSU Family Medicine Interest Group highlighted in AAFP Excellence Award
Andrew Wang, M.D., student learners, and others from the OHSU Family Medicine Interest Group have earned the 2026 American Academy of Family Physicians Program of Excellence Overall Award as one of the top family medicine interest groups in the country.
OHSU’s Family Medicine Interest Group was selected for its exceptional efforts to promote family medicine on campus and in the communities that OHSU serves.
This national recognition reflects the outstanding leadership, dedication, and commitment of OHSU student learners, as well as the mentorship and support provided by Wang. The award highlights the meaningful work being done to strengthen student engagement in family medicine and advance the future primary care workforce.
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Erick Turner Publication in JAMA Psychiatry
Erick Turner, M.D., emeritus from the Department of Faculty Affairs at OHSU, and colleagues have a study recently published in JAMA Psychiatry on the FDA-approved medication, gepirone, which came after decades of review. The paper, “Assessing Drug Efficacy After Multiple Negative Trials - Gepirone’s Journey Through the FDA,” examines how clinical trial evidence is evaluated and calls for greater transparency in how drug effectiveness is communicated to prescribing clinicians.
“We believe that the FDA should communicate the results of all efficacy trials—not just a few of them—so that clinicians and the public can have more realistic expectations about FDA-approved drugs and make better-informed treatment decisions,” Turner said.
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Five named 2026 Brenden-Colson Center Pilot Grants awardees
The Brenden-Colson Center for Pancreatic Care has announced the recipients of the 2026 Brenden-Colson Center Pilot Grants, which support innovative, translational research focused on improving the prevention, detection and treatment of pancreatic cancer and related pancreatic diseases.
Made possible through philanthropic support, these competitive $50,000 pilot grants provide investigators with critical early-stage funding to pursue high-impact research, generate preliminary data and accelerate discoveries that may lead to future federal funding, clinical translation and improved patient outcomes.
The 2026 awardees represent four of the Center’s Discovery Science Programs and are advancing research across a broad spectrum of pancreatic cancer science, including environmental risk factors, treatment response assessment, immunotherapy, therapeutic vulnerabilities and advanced imaging technologies.
2026 Brenden-Colson Center Pilot Grant Awardees:
Population Science
“Multiscale Mapping of Pancreatic Pre-cancer to Cancer Transitions by Integrating Largefield Multiplexed Super-resolution Microscopy with 3D Quantitative Histology (CODA)”
“Dual-Timepoint 68Ga-FAP-2286 PET/MRI to Predict Pathologic Response, Stromal
Remodeling, and Surgical Resectability in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma”
“Water Contaminants and Pancreatic Cancer Risk for Tribal Members in Warm Springs”
“Just a spoonful of sugar: using L-fucose to remodel the PDAC immune
microenvironment and enhance immunotherapy efficacy”
“Lipid Nanoparticle Delivered Immunogenic Cell Death for Pancreatic Cancer Therapy”
Together, these projects reflect the breadth and strength of pancreatic cancer research at OHSU and the Brenden-Colson Center. By supporting promising new ideas and emerging lines of investigation, the Pilot Grant Program helps accelerate discoveries that may ultimately improve the lives of patients and families affected by pancreatic cancer.
The Brenden-Colson Center congratulates the 2026 award recipients and looks forward to following the progress of these important studies.
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Steven Mansoor earns Ernest C. Swigert Endowed Professorship in Cardiovascular Medicine
Steven Mansoor, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of medicine and of chemical physiology and biochemistry in the OHSU School of Medicine, has been appointed to hold the Ernest C. Swigert Endowed Professorship in Cardiovascular Medicine. The appointment will allow Mansoor to recruit an additional postdoctoral fellow and pursue innovative, higher-risk experiments that are often difficult to support through traditional National Institutes of Health funding mechanisms.
“The path of a physician scientist is challenging, and this recognition affirms that the effort and persistence I have invested over more than 25 years in building a research career, while simultaneously caring for my patients, have made a difference,” he said. “This endowed professorship provides flexible, unencumbered support that will meaningfully advance my research program.”
“This flexibility is critical for generating new ideas and preliminary data that can ultimately drive transformative discoveries in cardiovascular medicine and neuroscience,” he said.
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Lucia Carbone earns Henry T. Swigert Endowed Professorship in Cardiovascular Medicine
Lucia Carbone, Ph.D., professor of medicine and of molecular and medical genetics in the OHSU School of Medicine, and professor in the Division of Genetics at the Oregon National Primate Research Center, and Director of the KCVI Epigenetics Consortium, has been awarded the title of Henry T. Swigert Endowed Professorship in Cardiovascular Medicine in the School of Medicine. This endowed professorship will serve as a catalyst for Carbone’s research program.
“It provides essential, sustained support to pursue ambitious questions that are difficult to address through traditional funding mechanisms alone,” she said. “The endowment enables investment in innovative technologies, interdisciplinary collaborations, and the training and mentorship of the next generation of scientists. Collectively, this support strengthens my ability to build a durable and impactful research program with relevance to both fundamental biology and human disease — an especially critical advantage in the current funding climate.”
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Emily Voigt earns OCTRI Biomedical Innovation Program Drug Discovery Award
Emily Voigt, Ph.D., an associate professor in the OHSU Vaccine & Gene Therapy Institute, has received an OCTRI Biodmedical Innovation Drug Award for her proposal, “An NLC-delivered saRNA vaccine for protection against Respiratory Syncytial Virus.”
Respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, is a highly contagious seasonal virus that can cause serious lower respiratory tract infections, particularly in infants and older adults. Voigt’s project aims to develop a self-amplifying RNA vaccine delivered through a novel nanostructured lipid carrier platform. Building on previous research, the vaccine has the potential to be highly effective, lower in cost than existing options and accessible for global deployment.
The OCTRI Biomedical Innovation Program, supported by the Oregon Clinical and Translational Research Institute and OHSU Innovates, is designed to accelerate promising therapeutics toward commercialization. Voigt’s award provides $60,000 over one year to support development of the vaccine candidate and generate data for future patent and funding opportunities.
In addition to funding, the program offers mentorship, project management support and connections to industry leaders, helping researchers bridge the gap between early-stage discoveries and real-world impact.
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Caralyn Labriola Grant Award: Collins Medical Trust Award
Caralyn Labriola, BVMS, DACVP, research assistant professor at the OHSU Vaccine & Gene Therapy Institute, and her lab team has earned a Collins Medical Trust award for her research, “Translational Characterization of Cerebrospinal Fluid Clearance via the Nasopharyngeal Lymphatic Plexus in Macaques and Humans.”
The study will investigate how cerebrospinal fluid drains through the nasopharyngeal lymphatic plexus, a network of lymphatic vessels behind the nasal cavity. By comparing humans and nonhuman primates, the research team aims to better understand the anatomy, cellular composition and molecular characteristics of these lymphatic pathways and their role in clearing fluid from the brain.
The project will combine advanced imaging techniques with detailed tissue analysis to visualize the fluid drainage in real time and map the NPLP. The findings will provide new insights into brain fluid clearance mechanisms and build a foundation for future studies of neurological disease, aging and neurotropic viral infections.
The Collins Medical Trust Award provides $39,810 to support the research. The project also will benefit from collaboration and mentorship from OHSU’s Jacob Estes, Ph.D., and Michael Axthelm, D.V.M., Ph.D., along with Young- Kwon Hong, Ph.D., of University of Southern California, who bring expertise in comparative pathology, nonhuman primate models and lymphatic biology. Additional support is being provided by the Oregon National Primate Research Center’s Division of Pathobiology and Immunology, which has committed departmental resources to the project.
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Brandon Wilder receives NIH grant to advance potential malaria vaccine
Brandon Wilder, Ph.D., an immunologist and associate professor in OHSU’s Vaccine & Gene Therapy Institute, has earned funding from the NIH National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for his project, “Development of a Novel Virus-Based Vaccine Platform for a Next-Generation Malaria Vaccine.”
The research aims to develop a vaccine strategy that targets multiple stages of the malaria parasite lifecycle and generates both T cell and antibody responses. This work could then lead to an effective, one- or two-dose malaria vaccine and provide the foundation for future preclinical studies and expanded funding.
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Claudio Mello lab contributes to Current Biology study
Researchers from the lab of Claudio Mello, M.D., Ph.D., contributed to a novel study recently published in Current Biology. The study, “Genomic and physiological changes in a sexually selected and frugivorous bird radiation,” examines the genomic and physiological changes that accompanied the evolution of manakins, a group of tropical birds known for their elaborate acts of courtship and colorful plumage.
This international collaboration identified genetic adaptations in manakins related to sensory systems, muscle function and fruit-based diets, including functional changes in sweet-sensing taste receptors and lactase-phlorizin hydrolase, an enzyme typically associated with milk sugar digestion in mammals. The findings provide new insights into how dietary and physiological changes may have helped drive the diversification of these highly specialized birds and set the stage for the evolution of some of the avian world’s most striking examples of sexual selection.
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Michael Harris, OHSU NICH earn ISPAD Innovation Award
Michael Harris, Ph.D., professor of pediatric psychology in the OHSU School of Medicine, has received the 2026 International Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Diabetes Prize for Innovation in Pediatric Diabetes Care for his work with Novel Interventions in Children’s Healthcare, or NICH, program.
Supported by Abbott, this prize recognizes innovative approaches that improve health outcomes and quality of care for children and young people living with diabetes.
He will accept the award the ISPAD recognition event in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in November. This award recognizes the collective efforts and hard work of all involved with NICH at both OHSU and Stanford.
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OHSU Researchers awarded American Cancer Society pilot grants for cancer research
Three promising early-career investigators in the OHSU School of Medicine are recipients of pilot awards through the OHSU-American Cancer Society Institutional Research Grant, a program designed to support emerging cancer researchers and advance innovative research that accelerates scientific discovery.
The 2026 awardees are: Katelyn Byrne, Ph.D., Gregory Baker, Ph.D., and Erin Kenzie, Ph.D., all who are tackling critical challenges across the cancer continuum, from overcoming treatment resistance to improving survivorship in the face of environmental change.
Expanding Immunotherapy for Pancreatic Cancer
Katelyn Byrne, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Cell, Developmental and Cancer Biology, is focused on improving outcomes for pancreatic cancer, one of the deadliest and most difficult cancers to treat. Her research examines ways to overcome the tumor microenvironment’s suppression of the immune system, a major barrier to the effectiveness of immunotherapy. With support from the OHSU-ACS-IRG award, Byrne will investigate strategies to boost immune responses against pancreatic tumors and improve treatment effectiveness for patients.
“We are honored by the American Cancer Society's support for this work. Their investment enables us to conduct key mechanistic studies examining the therapy-induced changes in regulatory T cell at the tumor site — research with real potential to change how we treat cancer — and will position us to compete for larger grants to extend these findings,” Byrne said.
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Unlocking T Cell Potential in Glioblastoma
Gregory Baker, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Division of Oncological Sciences, studies the immunologic barriers that limit treatment success in glioblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer with few effective therapeutic options. His research focuses on understanding how T cells function within glioblastoma tumors and identifying strategies to enhance their ability to recognize and eliminate cancer cells. With support from the OHSU-ACS-IRG award, Baker will investigate new approaches to strengthen anti-tumor immune responses and improve outcomes for patients with glioblastoma.
“This Excellence in Early-Career Translational Research Award from the American Cancer Society will enable us to investigate the immune landscape of glioblastoma brain cancer by comprehensively profiling T cell phenotypes and behavior in patient blood and tumor tissue at the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute,” Baker said. “Together with our outstanding colleagues in clinical neuro-oncology, Dr. Sushant Puri, MBBS, and Dr. Matthew Wood, M.D., Ph.D., we aim to identify mechanisms limiting effective anti-tumor immunity and gain new insights into the systemic immune processes that characterize the disease. We are grateful to the ACS for their investment in our research program and look forward to sharing our discoveries with the scientific community, patients, and their families!”
Share link: https://news.ohsu.edu/2026/07/20/accolades-awards-honors-and-appointments-july-6926159#Baker
Understanding Wildfire Impacts on Cancer Survivors
Erin Kenzie, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Division of Oncological Sciences as well as the OHSU-PSU School of Public Health, brings a population health perspective to cancer research. Her project examines how wildfire smoke exposure affects cancer survivors, an increasingly important area of study as climate-driven wildfires become more frequent and severe across the Pacific Northwest. With support from the OHSU-ACS-IRG award, Kenzie will investigate the health impacts of smoke exposure among cancer survivors to help inform strategies that protect vulnerable populations and improve long-term survivorship outcomes.
“Wildfire poses an increasing threat to the health of people in the Pacific Northwest, and cancer survivors are particularly vulnerable to its impacts,” Kenzie said. “Our project, Wildfire Impacts on Care for Cancer Survivors, or WILDCARE, addresses the urgent need to develop clinic-based strategies to reduce the health impacts of wildfire for this population, with a particular focus on rural communities. Receiving pilot funding for this project through the ACS-IRG will enable me to establish a new line of research on this important topic in partnership with the Oregon Rural Practice-based Research Network and other OHSU and community partners. As an early-career investigator, this funding will play a pivotal role in helping me advance my independent cancer research program at OHSU.”
Share link: https://news.ohsu.edu/2026/07/20/accolades-awards-honors-and-appointments-july-6926159#Kenzie
Investing in Early-Career Innovation
The ACS-IRG program plays a vital role in supporting early-stage investigators as they establish independent research programs and pursue novel, high-risk, high-reward ideas.
“These awards highlight the exceptional talent of our junior faculty and the breadth of innovation across OHSU,” said Melissa Wong, Ph.D., associate director of Basic Science in the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute. “The ACS-IRG program allows investigators to generate the foundational data needed to compete for larger national funding and ultimately translate discoveries into patient impact. We are grateful for this support from the ACS.”
By supporting research spanning basic biology, translational immunology, and public health, the program underscores OHSU’s commitment to advancing cancer research at every level.
“We are excited to see where these investigators take their work,” added Wong. “Their ideas are creative, timely, and deeply aligned with our mission to improve health for all.”
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OHSU experts lead work for safe implementation of ambient AI
Experts from the OHSU School of Medicine played key roles in developing new national guidance for the responsible implementation of ambient artificial intelligence in clinical care through the Coalition for Health AI, or CHAI, an organization formed to advance the responsible development, deployment and oversight of AI in healthcare.
Logan Jones, M.D., associate professor of medicine, and Taylor Anderson, M.D., clinical informatics fellow, served as co-leads of CHAI’s Ambient AI Workgroup, guiding a multidisciplinary collaboration of clinicians, health systems, technology companies, policymakers, researchers and patient advocates. Jeff Gold, M.D., professor of medicine, also served as a significant contributing member of the workgroup.
The workgroup recently released two consensus resources: the Ambient AI Implementation Playbook and the Testing & Evaluation Framework, which are available publicly through the Coalition for Health AI’s Ambient AI initiative. Together, these documents provide practical guidance for health systems seeking to safely evaluate, implement, govern and monitor ambient AI documentation technologies throughout their lifecycle. These resources address governance, implementation planning, workflow integration, quality assurance, testing methodologies, human oversight and continuous evaluation.
The work reflects OHSU’s growing national leadership in responsible clinical AI implementation and governance. As health systems increasingly adopt ambient AI documentation tools, these freely available resources offer a consensus-based framework to help organizations implement the technology safely, transparently and effectively.
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Recognize team or individual achievements with OHSU Accolades
Every day, OHSU members do amazing things. We want to celebrate the significant achievements of OHSU members, units, and programs, such as awards, grants, appointments, publications, and public recognitions. We publish these announcements regularly on OHSU Now and OHSU News: Awards and Accomplishments to celebrate with all 27,000 of our members and our community. Nominate yourself, a colleague or any OHSU member using this Accolades intake form. Submissions edited for length and clarity.