Sung honored for research; Sliger, Young named astronaut scholars

Sung honored for cancer research

Patrick Sung

Patrick Sung has received the 2024 Basser Global Prize from the Basser Center for BRCA at Penn Medicine. This honor recognizes a leading scientist who has advanced BRCA1- and BRCA2-related research. The Basser Global Prize provides $100,000 in unrestricted support of the winner's research efforts, a Basser sculpture and a $10,000 honorarium. Sung will give the keynote address and be recognized at the 13th annual Basser Center Scientific Symposium in April 2025.

Sung is the director of the Greehey Children’s Cancer Research Institute, the associate dean of research and a professor of biochemistry and structural biology at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. His lab studies DNA damage repair and homologous recombination as a mechanism for repairing double-strand DNA breaks. He received the Outstanding Investigator Award from the National Cancer Institute, starting in 2019 and running through 2026.

Sung has been an associate editor of the Journal of Biological Chemistry since 2014.

“It is our privilege to recognize Dr. Sung for his achievements and to support his future BRCA research,” Susan M. Domchek, executive director of the Basser Center for BRCA, said. “This type of basic science research is crucial to understanding how we — together, as a community of researchers and clinicians — can advance the care of individuals living with BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations.”

Sliger and Young named astronaut scholars

Shelby Sliger

Tara Young

Shelby Sliger and Tara Young have been named Astronaut Scholars by the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation, which was founded by the Mercury 7 astronauts. They are two of this year's 71 awardees. These scholarships are awarded to undergraduate students in their junior and senior year of college studying science, technology, engineering or mathematics with the intent to pursue research or advance their field upon completion of their final degree.

Sliger is a biochemistry major at Purdue University. She conducts research on epigenetics and chromatin remodeling in plants with Joe Ogas, professor and biochemistry department head at Purdue. Sliger was named a Goldwater Scholar in 2024 and an Outstanding Sophomore in Biochemistry by Purdue in 2023.

Young is a biochemistry major at the University of Washington. She conducts research on the role of role of a novel DNA-binding protein in DNA replication with Monica Guo, an assistant professor. Young is also an Undergraduate Research Leader at UW, providinh support for incoming students interested in research. In 2024, she won a Washington Research Foundation Fellowship, the Undergraduate Poster Competition at the Protein Society’s Annual Symposium and first place for Undergraduate E-Poster in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the American Association for the Advancement of Science Annual Meeting.