The John A. Resko Awards
The below awards are made in honor of John A. Resko, Ph.D., chair and professor emeritus of the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, for over 30 years of excellence in research, mentoring, and dedicated leadership in the basic sciences.
JOHN A. RESKO OUTSTANDING DOCTORAL THESIS AWARD
Caroline King, M.P.H.
Ph.D. Candidate in Biomedical Engineering, M.D./Ph.D. student
“Modeling the impact of hospital-based addiction consult services on post-discharge mortality”
In her award-winning Ph.D. dissertation, Caroline King identified ways to improve the care for hospitalized adults with opioid use disorder, specifically researching models for increasing access to addiction consultation services and their impact on health outcomes of Oregon patients with opioid use disorder. Her use of Markov models to predict the potential impact of additional addiction consultations in Oregon on post-hospital treatment engagement and mortality has the potential to significantly impact patient care. Her work is already being recognized in Oregon and her dissertation has resulted in four papers in outstanding journals.
Her work has been hailed as “policy changing.” Read more about King’s research on OHSU News, including “Pandemic ratchets up pressure on people with substance use disorder” and “Look beyond opioids to solve national substance use epidemic, study suggests.”
JOHN A. RESKO FACULTY EXCELLENCE in RESEARCH and MENTORING
Andrey Ryabinin, Ph.D.
Professor of Behavioral Neuroscience, OHSU School of Medicine
Dr. Andrey Ryabinin’s students and mentees supported his nomination with eight letters from themselves and his colleagues, citing his outstanding research on the Edinger-Westphal nucleus in modulating alcohol consumption, the social transfer of pain and his innovative use of the highly translational prairie vole to study socially-facilitated (or inhibited) alcohol consumption.
His research has been published in over 114 peer-reviewed papers, many co-authored by his students and postdoctoral fellows. A colleague described him as: “a trusted and judicious collaborator. He has always been the best colleague imaginable, willing to shoulder work for the common good at any time. And, he is just a wonderfully engaging person, which makes working with him even better.” His research has been widely recognized with invitations to speak at international conferences, as well as to serve on national and international scientific committees, journal editorial boards, and grant review sessions.
As a teacher, he has served on steering committees, developed courses and run a T32 training program. However, the best gauge of his mentorship is the success of his students, many now in faculty positions or highly prestigious postdocs. He has mentored nine PhD students, and eight post-doctoral fellows. A few of their comments include:
“Dr. Ryabinin had an uncanny ability to keep things fun, interesting and enjoyable in the laboratory.”
“I chose to attend OHSU […because of] his contagious warmth and enthusiasm. Unlike many other neuroscientists with his caliber and distinguishments, he listened to me attentively and made me feel heard and respected.”
“He worked with me intensively on my NIH F32 application, which I was awarded on my first submission. He nominated me for various awards. When he was asked to give talks, he often passed the invitation on to me, which gave me opportunities for speaking at meetings and networking that are rare for graduate students. He included me in interviews with the press that brought more attention to our research. This demonstrated to me how generous Andrey was and how much he emphasizes his students’ advancement.”
Said Dr. Fryer, “This is the highest award we can give to any faculty member in recognition of sustained, high quality, research as well as a strong record of mentoring graduate students and/or postdoctoral fellows. Congratulations to Dr. Ryabinin for exemplifying the best of what we aspire to be as faculty.”