SRI International Honors Gregory Faris and Jon Mirsalis with 2014 Fellows Awards

Highest Recognition for Technical, Scientific, or Professional Contributions at SRI

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Oct 02, 2014, 01:00 ET

MENLO PARK, Calif., Oct. 2, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Gregory Faris, Ph.D., and Jon Mirsalis, Ph.D., DABT, have been named winners of the 2014 SRI International Fellows Awards. Established in 1980, the Fellows Award is SRI's highest recognition for technical, scientific or professional contributions. Honorees receive a paid three-month sabbatical.

SRI International Fellows Award winners Jon Mirsalis and Gregory Faris (PRNewsFoto/SRI International)

Faris is a program manager in SRI's Materials Research Laboratory. Since joining SRI in 1988 as a post-doctoral fellow, Faris has focused on laser and optics technology with a host of important applications, including in vivo optical imaging for cancer detection and monitoring wound healing, single-cell droplet microfluidics for analysis of circulating tumor cells, and development of new methods for microscopy. His research has earned him wide respect with the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health. Faris is deputy editor of Biomedical Optics Express and founding editor of the Virtual Journal for Biomedical Optics.

Faris also works closely with undergraduate students performing research at SRI as part of the NSF's Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program. For his strong mentoring abilities, he won SRI's Mimi Award in 2009. The Mimi Award is the highest recognition offered to staff members who inspire co-workers and contribute to their professional development and success.

Mirsalis is the managing director of SRI Biosciences and executive director of its Preclinical Development Section, which has grown to become the largest contractor of preclinical toxicology studies to NIH. In his 33 years at SRI, Mirsalis has led research and development teams that have brought more than $300 million in funding to SRI.

Mirsalis invented the in vivo unscheduled DNA synthesis (UDS) assay, a test now used worldwide for evaluation of carcinogenic potential of drugs and chemicals. He has also been involved in the development of more than 50 therapeutics that have entered clinical trials in the fields of cancer, infectious disease and neuroscience, and several of these have now reached the market.

Mirsalis is on the Board of Directors of the California Biomedical Research Association and the Advisory Committee of the Predictive Safety Testing Consortium. He is a past president of the Genetic and Environmental Toxicology Association of Northern California and a past treasurer of the Environmental Mutagen Society. He lectures regularly at University of California, Santa Cruz and Stanford University on a broad range of topics including toxicology, carcinogenesis and biosecurity.

About SRI International
SRI International is a nonprofit research and innovation center headquartered in Silicon Valley. Government and business clients worldwide come to SRI for pioneering solutions in biomedical sciences and health, chemistry and materials, computing, education, economic development, energy, security and defense, robotics, sensing, and more. We provide research, laboratory and advisory services, technology development and licenses, deployable systems, products, and venture opportunities. Our innovations have created new industries and marketplace value, and lasting benefits to society. Visit SRI's website and Timeline of Innovation to learn more.

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SOURCE SRI International