San Francisco, May 30, 2024 — The UCSF Department of Orthopaedic Surgery is pleased to announce that Dr. Brian Feeley, an orthopaedic surgeon and co-director of the UCSF Muscle Injury and Translational Orthopedic (MITO) Research Lab, has been awarded the 2023-24 Long-Term Mentor Award by the UCSF School of Medicine.
Nominated by students, the award honors faculty mentors who have shown dedication to nurturing leaders, innovators, advocates, and researchers and have partnered with students to complete long-term research projects, between 12 weeks to 12 months or longer.
This year’s honor recognizes Dr. Feeley’s exceptional mentorship, as highlighted by his mentee, Aboubacar Wague, BA, who is currently a UCSF medical student and member of the UCSF MITO Lab.
“Dr. Feeley empowers his mentees to develop their hypotheses and grow as independent researchers, while his commitment to diversity has created an inclusive and supportive lab environment,” Wague said.
Wague, who was awarded the 2024 Long-Term Dean’s Prize for a yearlong research project titled “Novel Machine Learning Approach to Assess Function in Musculoskeletal Mice Models,” seeks to apply a novel data acquisition system to reveal clinical data in upper and lower extremity musculoskeletal injury models in mice.
UCSF Medical School student Aboubacar Wague, center at left, performs translational research at the UCSF MITO Research Lab on the Mission Bay campus in San Francisco. (Photo: UCSF Department of Orthopaedic Surgery)
“Dr. Feeley represents the diversity of scientific inquiry and exemplifies a commitment to student scholarship, advocacy, and scientific rigor,” said Dr. C. Benjamin Ma, chair of the UCSF Department of Orthopaedic Surgery. “His mentorship has guided many students -- contributing to their successful careers in research and clinical medicine.”
“Aboubacar Wague’s nomination letter praised Dr. Feeley’s passion for stem cell research and his ability to create a culture of encouragement and innovation," Dr. Ma added.
The award was formally presented at the 2024 Inquiry Symposium and Dean’s Prize Awards held on May 15, 2024, at Millberry Union on the Parnassus campus.
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