Past Recipients
The 2007 Edith and Peter O'Donnell Award in Medicine
David J. Mangelsdorf, Ph.D.
David Mangelsdorf is a Professor of Pharmacology and Biochemistry at the University of Texas Southwestern
Medical Center in Dallas and an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Dr. Mangelsdorf received
his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Arizona in 1987. He then was a post-doctoral research
associate in the laboratory of Dr. Ronald M. Evans at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute for four years
before becoming a staff scientist with the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in 1991. In 1993 he moved
to the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas where he identified the ligands of the LXRs
as oxysterol intermediates to the synthesis of cholesterol. His discoveries have led to the recognition that
LXRs are responsible for turning on genes that eliminate cholesterol from the body. Recently, he has identified
FXR as a promising therapeutic target for preventing cholesterol gallstone disease. Dr. Mangelsdorf has
received numerous accolades for his work including the John J. Abel Award in Pharmacology from the American
Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (1997), the Richard E. Weitzman Memorial Award from
The Endocrine Society (1998), the Adolf Windaus Prize for Bile Research from the Falk Foundation (2000), and
the Transatlantic Medal from the European Society of Endocrinology (2006).
The 2007 Edith and Peter O'Donnell Award in Engineering
Antonios G. Mikos, Ph.D.
Antonios G. Mikos is the J.W. Cox Professor of Bioengineering and Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular
Engineering at Rice University. He received his Dipl.Eng. (1983) from the Aristotle University of
Thessaloniki, Greece, and his Ph.D. (1988) in chemical engineering from Purdue University. He was a
postdoctoral researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Harvard Medical School
before joining the Rice Faculty in 1992. His research focuses on the synthesis, processing, and evaluation
of new biomaterials for use as scaffolds for tissue engineering, as carriers for controlled drug delivery,
and as non-viral vectors for gene therapy. Mikos is a Fellow of the International Union of Societies for
Biomaterials Science and Engineering and a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological
Engineering. He has been recognized by various awards including the Distinguished Lecturer Award of the
Biomedical Engineering Society, the Marshall R. Urist Award for Excellence in Tissue Regeneration Research
of the Orthopaedic Research Society, and the Clemson Award for Contributions to the Literature of the
Society for Biomaterials. He is a founding editor of the journal Tissue Engineering.
The 2007 Edith and Peter O'Donnell Award in Science
Zhijian "James" Chen, Ph.D.
Zhijian "James" Chen is a Professor of Molecular Biology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical
Center and an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. He received his undergraduate degree
in 1985 from the Fujian Normal University in China in Biology and his Ph.D. from the State University of
New York at Buffalo . He then spent a year at the Salk Institute as a post-doctoral fellow before beginning
his independent career in 1992 as Research Scientist at Baxter Healthcare in Irvine, California and then
Senior Scientist at ProScript, Inc. in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 1997, he joined the faculty of
UT Southwestern Medical Center. Dr. Chen's research focuses on understanding the mechanisms and pathways
of ubiquitin signaling. His research has the potential to extend the role of ubiquitin signaling beyond
inflammation and immunity, into the realm of growth control and cancer. Dr. Chen's work has been recognized
by numerous awards, including the Searle Scholar Award (1998-2001), the Greater Dallas Asian Chamber of
Commerce Award for Outstanding Contributions to Medicine (2003) and the Welch Foundation Norman Hackerman
Award in Chemical Research.