2024 Michael King Award
In 2021 the department of radiology created the Michael A. King, PhD Research Award in honor of Professor Michael King who joined UMASS Department of Radiology in 1979 and has been continuously funded by the NIH for more than 3 decades.
The 2024 Michael A. King, PhD, Research Award was presented to Hector Benatti, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow in the Edwards-Gray Lab - Nominated by his peers and selected by the Education Committee for paradigm-shifting research and helping to bring novel neurotherapeutics from the bench to the bedside. His work on the NIH-funded CREATE grant established a novel siRNA for Huntington's Disease on a large animal model, paving the way to enable the first human clinical trial.
The Michael A. King PhD Award is awarded annually at graduation to a trainee (medical student, doctoral candidate, resident, fellow, or post-doctoral fellow) who exemplifies (but do not have to meet all) the following characteristics demonstrating excellence in research:
- High impact peer-reviewed publications, including conference proceedings
- Securing extramural funding
- Conducting research that changes paradigms