Local Rotary Presents Humanitarian STAR Awards

STAR – (Science, Technology, Aerospace, Robotics)

Scientists who have devoted their work to improving and saving lives were recognized Thursday evening at the 4th Annual Rotary Humanitarian STAR Awards gala in Pasadena before a capacity crowd.

The Rotary Humanitarian STAR Awards recognize and celebrate scientific achievements that significantly benefit humanity. The awards are a collaboration between the Rotary Clubs of Sierra Madre and San Marino to illuminate achievements that support, advance and inspire humanitarian accomplishments.

This year’s award recipients were:

A special Lifetime Achievement Award, presented to Edward A. Stone, PhD, an internationally known physicist who has served as project scientist for the Voyager space program since 1972 and served as the director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena from 1991 – 2001.

This year’s Helios Award was presented to John S. Mulchaey, PhD, Director and Chair at the Observatories of the Carnegie Institute of Science. His research focuses on a range of astronomical issues including dark matter and black holes.

All of this year’s nominees deserved to be recognized, and choosing a recipient for the Health and Medical Award proved extremely challenging. The RHSTAR’s distinguished Board of Advisors declared a tie. The award was shared between the team from City of Hope: Stephen Forman, MD and Christine Brown, PhD and Mark Manary, PhD with the Peanut Butter Project. Forman and Brown are world leaders in the discovery and development of CAR T cell therapy, a specialized immunotherapy treatment of cancer. Manary, whose life work is to eradicate childhood malnutrition, is the founder and developer of Project Peanut Butter, which has saved over 1 million children from malnutrition to date.

The award for Environmental Improvement went to Annmarie Eldering, PhD., who is the Deputy Project Scientist at JPL for the Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) and the Project Scientist for OCO-3. The Orbiting Carbon Observatories satellite watches the Earth breath and makes precise global measurements of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) emanating from the Earth and being absorbed back into it. Eldering states that “Humans are pushing the carbon cycle off balance by fossil fuel burning and deforestation, causing carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere to continue to rise. How is our planet handling this change to one of the key elements of life on Earth?”

Manu Prakash, PhD is an Assistant Professor of Bioengineering at Stanford University and a leader in the frugal design movement. His lab is developing global health solutions by leveraging smartphone technology and the cost savings of emerging manufacturing techniques such as 3D printers, laser cutters and conductive ink printing. His team works in the field of physical biology, inventing novel technologies in the global health context with clinical applications in extreme resource-poor settings. His work earned him this year’s award for Knowledge Sharing.

The evening’s final award went to Eric James, PhD. for Disaster Relief and Recovery. James is the Cofounder and Director of Field Ready, responding to disaster areas by enabling onsite manufacturing innovation using appropriate locally sustained and exponential technologies across different sectors  including health, nutrition, shelter, energy and economic recovery. They partner with others to transform the delivery of humanitarian aid. Local production reduces costs, expedites delivery and saves lives.

The RHSTAR Awards are produced by the Rotary Clubs of Sierra Madre and San Marino, who aspire to encourage emerging technologies and scientific achievements to focus on addressing the most pressing challenges facing humanity. For more information on the RHSTAR Awards, nominees, and award recipients, visit rhstar.org.