The Founder’s Award is an endowed scholarship opportunity for the ABRF annual meeting. The scholarship is designed to support core staff who are in the early stages of their careers and have the potential for ABRF leadership. The Founder’s Award was endowed by Ronald L. Niece, a founding member of the ABRF, to support junior core staff in advancing their careers by engaging and participating in the ABRF meeting.

• One-year complimentary ABRF membership 
• Complimentary registration to attend the ABRF Annual Meeting
• Additional $250 travel support above the outstanding scholarship award (total $1250)
• Recognition during the ABRF Members’ Meeting at the Annual Meeting
• Complimentary registration of one ABRF educational workshop

2025: ABRF Outstanding Scientist Scholarship and Founder’s Award Recipients

• Aarya Vaikakkarachithran, Seattle Children’s Research
• John Haley, University of Massachusetts Medical School
• Jessica Henley, Colorado State University
• Indrani Bhowmic, Colorado State University
• Marc Wegener, Van Andel Institute

Founder's Award Recipient:

• Aarya Vaikakkarachithran, Seattle Children’s Research

2024: ABRF Outstanding Scientist Scholarship and Founder’s Award Recipients

• Gabrielle Budziszewski, University of Buffalo
• Caroline Chidley, University of Massachusetts Medical School
• Molishree Joshi, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Center
• Amy Lyndaker, Cornell University
• Tate, Cornell University

Founder's Award Recipient:

• Amy Lyndaker, Cornell University

2023: ABRF Outstanding Scientist Scholarship and Founder’s Award Recipients

• Yang Bai, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
• Sarah Bowman, University of Buffalo
• Heather Jensen-Smith, University of Nebraska Medical Center
• Brian Newell, Colorado State University
• Jenny Schafer, Vanderbilt University

Founder's Award Recipient:

• Yang Bai, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

2022: ABRF Outstanding Scientist Scholarship and Founder’s Award Recipients

• Kristina Belanger, Harvard University
• Kelly Cribari, Harvard University 
• Kaitlyn Petentler, Stowers Institute for Medical Research
• Mystera Samuelson, University of Nebraska Medical Center
• Shanmugapriya Selvaraj, NYU Langone Medical Center

Founder's Award Recipient:

• Kelly Cribari, Harvard University 

2021: ABRF Outstanding Scientist Scholarship and Founder’s Award Recipient

• Molly Zeller, University of Wisconsin, Madison

2020: ABRF Outstanding Scientist Scholarship and Founder’s Award Recipients

• Srinivas Sistla, Virginia Commonwealth University
• Pei Liu, University of Missouri
• Vikas Kumar, University of Nebraska Medical Center
• Anne-Marie Girard-Pohjanpelto, Oregon State University
• Kratika Singhal, Stanford University

2020 Founders' Award Recipients:

• Pei Liu, University of Missouri-Columbia
• Kratika Singhal, Stanford University

2019: ABRF Outstanding Scientist Scholarship and Founder’s Award Recipients

• Yamna Khurshid, University of Karachi; Karachi, Pakistan
• Medicharla Jagannadham, Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology; Hyderabad, India
• Nandhini Raman, University of Californa, San Francisco
• Ravi Ranjan, University of Massachusetts at Amherst

2018: ABRF Outstanding Scientist Scholarship and Founder’s Award Recipients

• Selest El-Nashef, Western Michigan University
• Matthew Iozzio, Rutgers University
• Joanna Kirkpatrick, Leibniz Institute on Aging - Fritz Lipmann Institute; Jena, Germany
• Diane Miller, BC Cancer Genome Sciences Centre
• Sandeep Misra, University of Mississippi
• Valerie Villeneuve, CHU Sainte-Justine Research Center
• Stephon Void, Claflin University
• Mingyi Zhou, Jilin University

2017: ABRF Outstanding Scientist Scholarship and Founder’s Award Recipients 

• Charlene Coleman, University of Massachusetts at Amherst
• Johanna Dela Cruz, Cornell University
• Kaitlin Groglio, Harvard University
• Mallary Hoidal, Florida International University
• Jessica Hornick, Northwestern University
• Nicolas Loof, UT Southwestern
• Zachary Niziolek, Harvard University
• Michael Peterson, Stowers Institute for Medical Research
• Corey Reynolds; Baylor College of Medicine
• Tanya Santos, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
• Elizabeth Sergison, Dartmouth College
• Nelson Vila-Santana, University of Vermont

2016: ABRF Outstanding Scientist Scholarship and Founder’s Award Recipients

SUPPORT PROVIDED BY: BD BIOSCIENCES, BIORESCO, UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND SCHOOL OF MEDICINE, MARLENE AND STEWART GREENBAUM CANCER CENTER, UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND SCHOOL OF MEDICINE, FLUIDIGM, and IDT

• Debbie Adam, Michael Smith Laboratories
• Meredith Calvert, Gladstone Institutes
• Diana Cardero, Florida International University
• Kym Delventhal, Stowers Institute for Medical Research
• Melodi Jayne, University of Oregon
• Elke Küster-Schöck, McGill University
• Ken McGrath, Australian Genome Research Facility Ltd
• E. Michael Meyer, University of Pittsburgh
• Babu Ponnusamy, Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms
• Summer Thompson, University of Delaware

2015: ABRF Outstanding Scientist Scholarship and Founder’s Award Recipients

SUPPORT PROVIDED BY ABRF AND SEQGEN

• Andrew Box, Stowers Institute for Medical Research
• Philip Hexley, University of Nebraska Medical Center
• Ernest Meyer, University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute
• Katia Sol-Church, Nemours Alfred I. DuPont Hospital for Children
• Michael Zianni, The Ohio State University

2014: ABRF Outstanding Scientist Scholarship and Founder’s Award Recipients

SUPPORT PROVIDED BY ABRF, NEW ENGLAND BIOLABS, and DR. RONALD NIECE

• Matthew Cochran, University of Rochester
• Karin Green, University of Massachusetts Medical School
• Jennifer Holbrook, Nemours Alfred I. DuPont Hospital for Children
• Guillame Lesage, McGill University
• Chi-Hao Luan, Northwestern University
• Michael Naldrett, Donald Danforth Plant Science Center
• Caroline Vergette, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute

2013: ABRF Outstanding Scientist Scholarship and Founder’s Award Recipients

SUPPORT PROVIDED BY ABRF

• Don A. Baldwin, Pathonomics LLC
• Carol Bayles, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
• Liping Gu, South Dakota State University
• Ana Kuzmin, University of British Columbia
• Claudius Mundoma, Florida State University
• Natalia Reyero, Mississippi State University
• Laurey Steinke, University of Nebraska Medical Center
• Kaye Thomas, The Rockefeller University

2012: ABRF Outstanding Scientist Scholarship and Founder’s Award Recipients

SUPPORT PROVIDED BY ABRF

• J. Russ Carmical, University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB)
• Allis Chien, Stanford University
• Shi Jian-Ding, University of Nebraska Medical Center
• Phillip Kim, Fox Chase Cancer Center
• Brewster Kingham, University of Delaware
• Judith Lacoste, McGill University
• Yasamin Miller, Cornell University
• Margaret Robertson, Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center, UCSF
• Taslimarif Saiyed, National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS-TIFR
• John C. Tigges, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center/Harvard Stem Cell Institute,

2011 Awardees

SUPPORT PROVIDED BY ABRF

• Pamela Scott Adams, Trudeau Institute
• Michelle Cilia, USDA
• Elke Küster-Schöck, McGill University
• Anoja Perera, Stowers Institute for Medical Research,
• S. Caprice Rosato, Oregon State University
• Taslimarif Saiyed, NCBS-TIFR
• Laurence Sandberg, Loma Lind University
• Toni Whistler, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

2010: ABRF Outstanding Scientist Scholarship and Founder’s Award Recipients

SUPPORT PROVIDED BY ABRF AND LIFE TECHNOLOGIES

• Sophie Alvarez, Donald Danforth Plant Science Center
• Joseph Boland, National Cancer Institute
• Amrita Cheema, Georgetown University
• Karl Mechtler, Reseach Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP)
• Gerhard Saalbach, John Innes Centre
• Scott Shaffer, University of Washington
• Bo Xu, University of Texas Medical Branch

2009: ABRF Outstanding Scientist Scholarship and Founder’s Award Recipients

SUPPORT PROVIDED BY ABRF AND THERMO FISHER

• Doug Bintzler, DNA Analysis, LLC
• Sridar Chittur, University at Albany, SUNY
• Jennifer Holbrook, Nemours/A.I. duPont Hospital for Children
• Alexander Ivanov, Harvard School of Public Health
• Angen Liu, Fox Chase Cancer Center
• Ronald Niece, Research Resources & Technologies
• Maria Person, University of Texas at Austin
• Rakesh Rathore, University of Cincinnati
• Matthew Robinson, Fox Chase Cancer Center
• Christof Straub, The University of Texas Medical Branch

2008: ABRF Outstanding Scientist Scholarship and Founder’s Award Recipients

SUPPORT PROVIDED BY ABRF AND THERMO FISHER

• Rama Dey-Rao, Roswell Park Cancer Institute
• James Hadfield, Cancer Research UK
• Don Kristt, Rabin Medical Center
• Christopher Martiniuk, University of Florida
• Karl Metchtler, IMP-IMBA
• Susan Newman, Pennington Biomedical Research Center
• Antonio Pinto, University of Virginia
• Robert Salzler, Duke Human Vaccine Institute
• Solange Serrano, Instituto Butantan Sao Paulo
• Kristofor Webb, University of California at Los Angeles

2007: ABRF Outstanding Scientist Scholarship and Founder’s Award Recipients

SUPPORT PROVIDED BY ABRF AND THERMO ELECTRON

• Megan Brown, Vermont Cancer Center
• Rene Brunisholz, Functional Genomics Center
• Christina Buchanan, University of Auckland
• Jayson Falkner, University of Michigan
• Jennifer Holbrook, A.I. DuPont Hospital of Children
• Karen Jonscher, University of Colorado
• Brewster Kingham, University of Delaware
• Jochen Peter, Steinbeis Center for Cell Chip Technologies
• Vitaliy Starosta, University of Texas Medical Branch
• Laurey Steinke, Nebraska Medical Center
• Glenis Wiebe, Edmonton, Canada

2006: ABRF Outstanding Scientist Scholarship and Founder’s Award Recipients

SUPPORT PROVIDED BY ABRF AND THERMO ELECTRON

• Jenn Biltcliffe, Roberts Research Institute, Ontario, Canada
• Paolo Conrutto, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research
• Robert Keefe, Wadsworth Center/NYSDOH
• Larry Martin, Northwestern University
• Mike Naldrett, John Innes Centre
• Jessica Prenni, Colorado State University
• Deborah Stabley, A.I. DuPont Hospital of Children
• Stanley Stevens, University of Florida
• Travis Young, University of Texas Medical Branch

2005: ABRF Outstanding Scientist Scholarship and Founder’s Award Recipients

SUPPORT PROVIDED BY ABRF AND APPLIED BIOSYSTEMS

• Jay Albanese, USDA-ARS Proteomics Center
• Tracy Andacht, University of Georgia
• John Asara, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
• Leonardo Barragan, University of Missouri
• Stela Bermema, Cleveland Clinic Foundation
• Andrew Bottrill, John Innes Centre
• Michelle Detwiler, Roswell Park Cancer Institute
• Tom Dunkley, Cambridge Center for Proteomics
• Jessica Hoffman, Trudeau Institute
• Peter Hunziker, Institute of Zurich
• Saulius Klimasauskas, Institute of Biotechnology
• Kalari Staish Kumar, Osmania University, India
• Heather Lin, DigiSapien, LLC
• Michelle Meyer, University of Rochester
• Liisa O'Hara, Michael Smith Labs, Canada
• Bhavinkumar Patel, Fox Chase Cancer Center
• Linda Salamone, University of Rochester
• Stacy Sherrod, Texas A & M University
• Sheng Zhang, Cornell University

2004: ABRF Outstanding Scientist Scholarship and Founder’s Award Recipients

SUPPORT PROVIDED BY ABRF

• Laura Ascroft, University of Rochester
• Yongde Bao, University of Virginia
• France Dumas, BRI/NRC, Canada
• Julia Whynot-Ertelt, Rockefeller University
• Rekha Iyer, University of Rochester
• Michael Jordan, University of Cincinnati
• George Kampo, University of Rochester
• Deb McMillen, Eugene, OR
• Emmanuelle Nicolas, Fox Chase Cancer Center
• Javad Pashmi, University of Texas Medical Branch
• Michael Sandoval, University of Southern California
• Solange Serrano, Instituto Butanan, Brazil
• Wei-Zhen Shen, Cleveland Clinic Foundation
• Tara Sigdel, Miami University
• Jezra Spisak, Cornell University
• Viju Varghese, University of Texas M. D. Anderson
• Patricia Veno, University of Missouri-Kansas City
• Sarah Warburton, Brigham Young University
• Petra Zuerbig, Fraunhofer Institute of Toxicology and Experimental Medicine

2003: ABRF Outstanding Scientist Scholarship and Founder’s Award Recipients

SUPPORT PROVIDED BY ABRF AND APPLIED BIOSYSTEMS

• Mariano Alvarez, Fundacion Insituto Leloir, Argentina
• Marjorie Chow, University of Florida
• Jennifer Frenck, A.I. DuPont Hospital of Children
• Antonio Greco, University of Calgary
• Martha Gunthorpe, UCSF Medical Center
• Rebecca Halpin, Cornell University
• Talat Haqqi, Cleveland Clinic Foundation
• Mikhail Kolonin, MD Anderson Cancer Center
• Hana Konecna, Masaryk University, Czech Republic
• Aarti Kumar, University of Southern California
• Larry Martin, Northwestern University
• Jason Moss, The Scripps Research Institute
• Jennifer Nott, UCSF Biomolecular Resource Center
• Maria Person, University of Texas at Austin
• Alex Rai, Johns Hopkins University
• Chris Richardson, Brigham Young University
• Garry Rucklidge, The Rowett Research Institute
• Puneet Souda, Purdue University
• Olga Stuchlik, Emory University
• Sandra Vigil-Cruz, University of Kansas
• Zhiping Wu, Cleveland Clinic Foundation
• Mingyi Zhou, University of Missouri at Columbia

2002: ABRF Outstanding Scientist Scholarship and Founder’s Award Recipients

SUPPORT PROVIDED BY ABRF AND APPLIED BIOSYSTEMS

• Obaid Beg, USA
• Sylvie Bourassa, Canada
• Gina Browse, United Kingdom
• Nancy Caceres, USA
• Millie Chan, USA
• Karen Edwards, Australia
• Isabel Hlede, Canada
• Christopher Jecmen, USA
• Ingrid Jordan-Thaden, USA
• Nancy Leymarie, USA
• Michael Mahar, USA
• Amy Marrs, USA
• Scott McClung, USA
• Ronald Niece, USA
• Nancy Nutile-McMenemy, USA
• Adriana Panciu, USA
• Changhong Qiao, USA
• Jeanne Rousseau, South Africa
• John Shannon, USA
• Deborah Stabley, USA
• Glenis Wiebe, Germany

2001: ABRF Outstanding Scientist Scholarship and Founder’s Award Recipients

SUPPORT PROVIDED BY ABRF AND APPLIED BIOSYSTEMS

• Christopher Carroll, University of Texas Health Science Center
• Alexandra Furtos, National Research Council Canada
• Rebecca Halpin, Cornell University
• Talat Haqqi, Cleveland Clinic Foundation
• Chris Jenkinson, University of Texas Health Science Center
• Alexander Kraev, University of Toronto
• Ellen Marie Krueger, University of Missouri
• Lufs Souto Miranda, Univeridade de Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal
• Christina Raska, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• Igor Rodionov, Institute of Bio-organic Chemistry, Moscow, Russia
• Marcello Valle de Sousa, University of Brasilia, Brazil
• Shelly Wegener, University of Calgary
  Valerie Wasinger, Garvan Institute of Medical Research, Sydney, Australia
• Zdenck Voburka, Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Academy of Science, Czech Republic