Four Women Scholars Honored With Prestigious Awards

Lynn E. Maquat, a professor of biochemistry and biophysics and the holder of the J. Lowell Orbison Endowed Chair at the University of Rochester in New York, has been announced as the winner of the 17th annual Wiley Prize in Biomedical Sciences. She is being honored for research on “how cells prevent production of toxic proteins by removing defective messenger RNAs.” Dr. Maquat will be honored and presented with a $50,000 prize at a luncheon on April 13 at Rockefeller University in New York.

Dr. Maquat joined the faculty at the University of Rochester in 2000. She is a graduate of the University of Connecticut, where she majored in biology and holds a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Huda Zoghbi, a professor in the departments of pediatrics, molecular and human genetics, neurology and neuroscience at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, received the Switzer Prize from the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles. Professor Zoghbi was honored for her research on neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental diseases. The award came with a $25,000 prize.

A native of Lebanon, Dr. Zoghbi earned a bachelor’s degree at the American University of Beirut and received her medical training at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee. She joined the faculty at the Baylor College of Medicine in 1988.

Linda Sealy, an associate professor of molecular physiology and biophysics and of cell and developmental biology and also associate dean for diversity, equity, and inclusion for basic sciences in the School of Medicine at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, received the Mentor Award for Lifetime Achievement from the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Dr. Sealy is a graduate of Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, where she majored in chemistry. She holds a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Iowa.

Anita Todd, associate director of engineering education at the University of Cincinnati, received the Alvah K. Borman Award from the American Society for Engineering Education. She was honored for her commitment to students and cooperative education.

Dr. Todd joined the faculty at the University of Cincinnati in 2005. She is a graduate of Pennsylvania State University, where she majored in mechanical engineering. She holds a master’s degree and an educational doctorate from the University of Cincinnati.