The Kasha Award and Lecture

The Kasha Award is given annually to recognize and stimulate research and to promote quality scientific writing. The Award is named in honor of the late Dr. Michael Kasha, Distinguished University Professor and co-founder of the Molecular Biophysics Graduate Program. MOB students who are primary authors on a paper published (or accepted for publication) within the previous two calendar years are eligible. Nomination letters are solicited from major professors early in Spring semester. The winner is announced at the Kasha Award Ceremony held at the end of Spring semester. The winner receives a $500 cash prize. A graduate of the MOB program is invited back to give the guest lecture. Following the lecture and award ceremony, we host a catered lunch to celebrate the annual event, which began in 1995. Click here for more info on rules and eligibility.

Kasha Award Winners

  • 1995 – Kenneth Eilertson and Drazen Raucher
  • 1996 – Randal R. Ketchem
  • 1997 – Priya Subramony
  • 1998 – Goran Periz
  • 1999 – Genfa Zhou
  • 2000 – Bishow Adhikari
  • 2001 – Junfeng Wang
  • 2002 – Meredith Newby
  • 2004 – Pamela D. Twigg and Rumana Rashid
  • 2005 – Brenda Schoffstall and Aya Kataoka
  • 2006 – Eliza Ruben
  • 2007 – Kate Calvin
  • 2008 – Bo Liang & Cheri Hampton
  • 2009 – Hui-Min Zhang
  • 2010 – Michelle Mitchell
  • 2011 – Dylan Murray
  • 2012 – Kerem Bingol
  • 2013 – Liam Longo
  • 2014 – Alexis Cocozaki
  • 2015 – Hanaa Hariri
  • 2016 – Mykhailo Kopylov
  • 2017 – Zhongjun Hu
  • 2018 – Tsz Kin Martin Tsui
  • 2019 – Dr. Travis Hand
  • 2020 – Dr. Joseph Pennington
  • 2021 – Dr. Mohammadreza Paran
  • 2022 – Dr. Anuska Das
  • 2023 – Dr. Louis Colling and Dr. Daniel Murray

Kasha Lecturers — Graduates of MOB Program

  • 1995 – Dr. Linda Nicholson
  • 1996 – Dr. Teresa E. Strzelecka
  • 1997 – Dr. Steven Pascal
  • 1998 – Dr. Anthony Nicholls
  • 1999 – Dr. Kenneth Eilertsen
  • 2000 – Dr. Ronald Milligan (not a graduate; spoke at 2000 event)
  • 2002 – Dr. Tom Eads
  • 2004 – Dr. Drazen Raucher
  • 2005 – Dr. Yi Zhang
  • 2006 – Dr. Bishow Adhikari
  • 2008 – Dr. Alla Korepanova
  • 2009 – Dr. Pam Twigg
  • 2010 – Dr. Meredith Newby
  • 2011 – Dr. Debbie Kelly
  • 2012 – Dr. Sanguk Kim
  • 2013 – Dr. Branko Stefanovic
  • 2014 – Dr. Randal Ketchem
  • 2015 – Dr. Daniel Adamek
  • 2016 – Dr. Alexei Soares
  • 2017 – Dr. Ramona Rashid
  • 2018 – Dr. Bo Liang
  • 2019 – Dr. Changlin Tian
  • 2020 – No lecture due to COVID-19
  • 2021 – Dr. Eric Springman
  • 2022 – Dr. Myriam Cotten
  • 2023 – Dr. Hanna Hariri

Updated: May 2023