Fox Chase Cancer Center Immersion Science Program Directors Win Viktor Hamburger Outstanding Educator Prize

Dr. O'Reilly
Alana M. O’Reilly, PhD, and Dara Ruiz-Whalen, PhD, have been awarded the Viktor Hamburger Outstanding Educator Prize from the Society for Developmental Biology at the organization’s 82nd Annual Meeting.

PHILADELPHIA (July 18, 2023) — The two leaders of Fox Chase Cancer Center’s Immersion Science Program (ISP) have been awarded the Viktor Hamburger Outstanding Educator Prize from the Society for Developmental Biology (SDB) at the organization’s 82nd Annual Meeting, which is being held this week in Chicago. The award recognizes individuals who have made outstanding and innovative contributions to teaching and learning in developmental biology and related areas.

“The past winners of this award are rockstars; they’ve done incredibly impactful work. To know SDB sees this much value in our program is humbling,” said Alana M. O’Reilly, PhD, the scientific director of the ISP and associate professor in the Cancer Signaling and Microenvironment research program.

O’Reilly and Dara Ruiz-Whalen, PhD, the ISP’s education director, launched the program in 2013. Its purpose is to train underserved students with the core skills they need to succeed in research labs while helping foster their passion for science.

Instead of having the students repeat known experiments where the only outcomes are “right” or “wrong,” ISP is designed so that the students consistently build toward doing their own research projects, which they design based on the experiences and health challenges faced by themselves, family members, friends, and neighbors.

“Everything that they do is geared towards building the reagents and solutions they need to conduct their own research project, which they design based on the health needs of their own communities,” said O’Reilly.

Interest in the program grew so quickly that O’Reilly and Ruiz-Whalen founded the eCLOSE Institute, a nonprofit organization. The 501c3 now operates in 28 states and serves more than 3,000 students ranging from fifth graders to retirees.

Eighty percent of eCLOSE students join research labs when they attend college, with 20% going on to earn doctorates, 26% attending medical school, and 24% taking jobs in the biotechnology sector. Importantly, Ruiz-Whalen points out, these students then give back to eCLOSE by serving as teachers and mentors.

“We’re very proud to say we’re not a class or a program; we build a community,” said Ruiz-Whalen. “We’re changing the faces at the research benches.”

Fox Chase Cancer Center (Fox Chase), which includes the Institute for Cancer Research and the American Oncologic Hospital and is a part of Temple Health, is one of the leading comprehensive cancer centers in the United States. Founded in 1904 in Philadelphia as one of the nation’s first cancer hospitals, Fox Chase was also among the first institutions to be designated a National Cancer Institute Comprehensive Cancer Center in 1974. Fox Chase is also one of just 10 members of the Alliance of Dedicated Cancer Centers. Fox Chase researchers have won the highest awards in their fields, including two Nobel Prizes. Fox Chase physicians are also routinely recognized in national rankings, and the Center’s nursing program has received the Magnet recognition for excellence six consecutive times. Today, Fox Chase conducts a broad array of nationally competitive basic, translational, and clinical research, with special programs in cancer prevention, detection, survivorship, and community outreach. It is the policy of Fox Chase Cancer Center that there shall be no exclusion from, or participation in, and no one denied the benefits of, the delivery of quality medical care on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity/expression, disability, age, ancestry, color, national origin, physical ability, level of education, or source of payment.

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