THE ROLAND K. ROBINS THESIS AWARD
The Roland K. Robins Outstanding Thesis Award was bequeathed to our department by pharmaceutical chemist, Roland Kenith Robins, who was a passionate mentor with a strong interest in academic pharmacology.
Roland Robins was the founder and former director of Brigham Young University's Cancer Research Center and also Senior Vice President of ICN Pharmaceuticals. His work led to the production of drugs that fight cancer, Parkinson's disease, leukemia, hepatitis A, herpes and influenza.
After receiving his bachelor's and master's degrees in chemistry from BYU and his doctorate from Oregon State University in 1952, Dr. Robins spent a year doing cancer research in New York. He taught at New Mexico Highlands University, Arizona State University and the University of Utah. He then became Senior Vice President of ICN Pharmaceuticals, which brought him to San Diego. Roland Robin’s research with novel nucleoside structures extended beyond inhibiting tumor proliferation to their actions in the CNS through adenosine analogues..
The Award and Nomination Process
Award: The recipient will receive a monetary award and be invited to speak at the annual Molecular Pharmacology and Drug Discovery Research Area Orientation for incoming Biomedical Sciences students in September.
Eligibility: To be eligible for the award, the nominated student must have defended their dissertation during the period of July 1 (of the previous year) – June 30 (of the current year).
Nomination Procedure: The nomination request will be sent to the department faculty yearly, at the end of the spring quarter. The nominee will be asked to submit their CV, list of publications, full dissertation listing committee members, and a ½ page statement highlighting career plans and other achievements. Letters of recommendation are required from the thesis advisor and one committee member.
2025 Recipient
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Previous Recipients
Bryan Shing Hei Yung, Ph.D.
2024 Roland Robins Awardee
Ph.D. 2024, Gutkind Lab
Exploiting Next-Generation Preclinical Syngeneic Models to Enhance Responses to Cancer Immunotherapy
Nadia Arang, Ph.D.
2023 Roland Robins Awardee
Ph.D. 2022, Gutkind Lab
The GNAQ-oncogenic signaling network: Targeting FAK and its synthetic lethal interactome as a multimodal precision therapy for uveal melanoma
Alexander Jones, Ph.D.
2023 Roland Robins Awardee
Ph.D. 2023, Newton Lab
Structural Features of Protein Kinase C Regulate its Downregulation and Phosphatase Sensitivity
Michael C. Yoon, Ph.D.
2022 Roland Robins Awardee
Pharm.D. 2022, Hook Lab, O'Donoghue Lab
Discovery of pH-dependent Protease Cleavage Properties Leads to the Rational Design of Neutral pH-Selective Inhibitor of Cathepsin B Involved in Human Diseases
Jacob Wozniak, Ph.D.
2021 Roland Robins Awardee
Ph.D. 2020, Gonzalez Lab
Lost in Translation: A Post-translational Modification-inclusive Analysis of Infectious Diseases
Tim Baffi, Ph.D.
2020 Roland Robins Awardee
Ph.D. 2019, Newton Lab
The Molecular Basis of Protein Kinase C Regulatory Mechanisms in Cancer and Neurodegenerative Disease
Joyce Chen, Ph.D.
2019 Roland Robins Awardee
Ph.D. (MSTP) 2019, Rao Lab
Defining the Role of Nr4a Transcription Factors in CD8+ T Cell Exhaustion Using a Murine CAR T Cell Tumor Model
Andrew Willeford, Ph.D.
2018 Roland Robins Awardee
Pharm.D. 2017, Heller Brown Lab
The Role of CaMKIId in Pathophysiological Responses Induced by Beta-Adrenergic Receptor Stimulation and Angiotensin II
Alisha Caliman, Ph.D.
2017 Roland Robins Awardee
Ph.D. 2017, McCammon Lab
Exploring and Characterizing the Conformational Space of the A2AAR and the S1PR1 for the Treatment of Immunological Disorders
James Robinson, Ph.D.
2016 Roland Robins Awardee
Ph.D. 2015, Joiner Lab
Genetic and anatomical dissection of sleep and arousal in Drosophila melanogaster
Stephanie Dusaban Gonzales, Ph.D.
2015 Roland Robins Awardee
Ph.D. 2015, Heller Brown Lab
Phospholipase C-epsilon Mediates Heterotrimeric and Small GTPase Signaling in Central Nervous System Injury and Disease
Robert Thomas, MD, Ph.D.
2014 Roland Robins Awardee
Ph.D. 2014, Gustafsson Lab
MCL-1 is Essential for Myocardial Homeostasis and Autophagy
Margaret Butko, Ph.D.
2013 Roland Robins Awardee
Ph.D. 2012, Tsien Lab
Monitoring Synaptic Protein Dynamics with Higher Temporal, Spatial, and Molecular Resolution
Meghan Miller, Ph.D.
2011 Roland Robins Awardee
Ph.D. 2010, P. Taylor Lab
A Structural Analysis of the Synaptic Adhesion Properties of alpha- and beta-neurexins
Mark Eckert, Ph.D.
2012 Roland Robins Awardee
Ph.D. 2012, Yang Lab
The Role of Twist1 in Promoting Tumor Invasion and Metastasis by Regulation of Invadopodia Formation
Jacob Durrant, Ph.D.
2010 Roland Robins Awardee
Ph.D. (MSTP) 2017, McCammon Lab
Computational Drug Design Applied to Neglected Disease
Benjamin Sachs, Ph.D.
2009 Roland Robins Awardee
Ph.D. 2008, Akassoglou Lab
The Regulation of cAMP by the p75 Neurotrophin Receptor - A Novel Mechanism for the Inhibition of Scar Resolution After Injury
Matthew Buczynski, Ph.D.
2009 Roland Robins Awardee
Ph.D. 2009, Dennis Lab
Lipidomic analysis of eicosanoid dynamics in inflammation and disease
Theresa Operaña, Ph.D.
2008 Roland Robins Awardee
Ph.D. 2008, Tukey Lab
A Tale of Two Drug Metabolizing Enzymes: The CYP1A1-GFP Transgenic Mouse and the Promiscuous Nature of UGTs
Melissa Passino, Ph.D.
2007 Roland Robins Awardee
Ph.D. 2007, Akassoglou Lab
Beyond the name: p75 neurotrophin receptor as a regulator of hepatic stellate cell differentiation in liver repair
Ryan Hibbs, Ph.D.
2007 Roland Robins Awardee
Ph.D. 2006, P. Taylor Lab
Conformational Dynamics of the Acetylcholine Binding Protein, a Nicotinic Receptor Surrogate
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Lisa Gallegos, Ph.D.
2010 Roland Robins Awardee
Ph.D. 2009, Newton Lab
Spatiotemporal Regulation of Protein Kinase C Signaling:Control of Normal Cellular Dynamics and Mis-regulation in Cancer
Anne Valle, Ph.D.
2008 Roland Robins Awardee
Ph.D. 2008, P. Taylor Lab
The Cholinesterases: A Study in Pharmacogenomics