News

WRF Announces Inaugural David Galas Distinguished Fellows Awardees

Three winners will each receive $7,500 to support future research and career goals

Seattle, WA – November 29, 2022

Washington Research Foundation (WRF) has announced the inaugural winners of the David Galas Distinguished Fellows Award. This award is in honor of David Galas, Ph.D., for his pivotal role in founding the WRF Postdoctoral Fellowship Program. The award recognizes the accomplishments of outstanding current WRF Postdoctoral Fellows, providing each awardee $7,500 in supplementary funds to apply towards their previously approved research or career goals. The winners were chosen by an independent panel comprising members of the selection committee and former WRF Postdoctoral Fellows.

Each year, the Foundation supports 10-12 new WRF Postdoctoral Fellows at research institutions across Washington state. Fellows conduct transformative research on projects that have the potential for real-world impact in natural sciences and engineering-related disciplines. WRF’s program seeks to cultivate the talents of researchers in Washington state and support them at a critical time in their careers.

Join WRF in celebrating the accomplishment of the inaugural recipients of the David Galas Distinguished Fellows Award:

  • Jason Coult, Ph.D., is making smarter defibrillator algorithms at the University of Washington (UW) Department of Medicine to improve survival from cardiac arrest
  • Cameron Glasscock, Ph.D., is designing DNA binding proteins at the UW Department of Biochemistry that have potential uses in a wide range of diagnostics and therapeutics
  • Korena Mafune, Ph.D., is designing a consortium of bacteria and fungi at UW Civil and Environmental Engineering to reduce the high environmental and economic costs of nitrogen fertilizers

Galas is an internationally recognized expert in molecular biology and human genetics, well known for his work in the Human Genome Project. He is a senior investigator at the Pacific Northwest Research Institute (PNRI) where he primarily focuses on computational biology. Most recently, Galas and his PNRI colleague Lisa Stubbs, Ph.D., launched the Decoding Stress Study. This study aims to answer some of the biggest questions about the role of people’s genes in determining how they respond to chronic stress. Galas has received several honors, including the Smithsonian Institution Computer World Pioneer award. He has published more than 170 scientific papers and has over 32,000 citations in the scientific literature. Galas is the holder of 20 U.S.-issued patents.

Click here to learn more about WRF’s postdoctoral fellowships.