2022 Waterman Award

美国国家科学基金会(NSF)提名哥伦比亚特区大学机械工程副教授劳拉·A·汤普森博士为2022年艾伦·T·沃特曼奖的三位获奖者之一。该奖项是NSF的最高荣誉，每年表彰在提名当年12月31日之前获得博士学位后40岁或以下或不超过10年的杰出研究人员。该奖项资助获奖者在任何科学或工程领域的研究。今年，每位获奖者将在五年内获得100万美元的补助金，用于在他或她的领域进一步深造。Thompson以她的创新研究而闻名，她结合了工程学、传感器技术和感觉-运动生理学的多学科方法，研究并改进了对因年龄、创伤和疾病而受损的人的姿势、步态和平衡的临床诊断。汤普森开发的革命性方法正在推动康复工程和生物力学领域的发展，并改善行动不便人群的生活质量。汤普森引领了新的研究计划和教育计划，并带头建立了与生物医学工程相关的新基础设施。在她的59本出版物中，许多本科生研究助理都是合著者。她在2017年获得了高等教育新兴学者国家奖中的多个问题，并在2019年获得了STEM年度黑人工程师创新者奖。她是哈佛大学耳鼻喉科杂志2019年秋季版的专题校友：“在研究和医学之间找到正确的平衡。”她在美国国家科学基金会的三次活动中担任特邀科学家：1)2021年的杰出小组讨论，题为“我们国家HBCU的黑人科学家和工程师：现在创造美国历史”；2)2020年向国会的演讲：由美国众议院科学、空间和技术委员会赞助的扩大对STEM的参与；和3)2019年的《科学国度》视频《研究让HBCU的本科生沉浸在生物医学工程中》。汤普森博士在马萨诸塞大学洛厄尔分校获得机械工程理学学士学位，随后在斯坦福大学获得航空航天工程理学硕士学位，并在哈佛-麻省理工学院的健康科学与技术项目中获得生物医学工程博士学位。她的博士研究第一次证明了基于前庭的感觉假体可以提高保持平衡的能力。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The National Science Foundation (NSF) named Dr. Lara A. Thompson, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of the District of Columbia, one of three 2022 Alan T. Waterman Award recipients. This award is NSF's highest honor that annually recognizes an outstanding researcher who is 40 years or younger or not more than 10 years beyond receipt of the Ph.D. degree, by December 31 of the year of the nomination. The award funds the recipient's research in any field of science or engineering. This year, each awardee will receive a $1 million grant over a five-year period for further advanced study in his or her field.Dr. Thompson is recognized for her innovative research that combines multidisciplinary approaches in engineering, sensor technology, and sensory-motor physiology to investigate and improve clinical diagnostics on human posture, gait, and balance for those impaired by age, trauma, and disease. The revolutionary approaches developed by Thompson are advancing the field of rehabilitation engineering and biomechanics and improving the quality-of-life for mobility impaired populations.Dr. Thompson has trailblazed new research initiatives and educational programs and spearheaded new infrastructure tied to biomedical engineering. In many of her 59 publications, undergraduate research assistants are co-authors. She received a Diverse Issues in Higher Education Emerging Scholar National Award in 2017 and a Black Engineer of the Year STEM innovator Award in 2019. She was a featured alumna in the Fall 2019 edition of Harvard Otolaryngology magazine: "Finding the right balance between research and medicine." She was a featured scientist in three U.S. National Science Foundation events: 1) a 2021 distinguished panel discussion titled "Black Scientists & Engineers at Our Nation's HBCUs: Making American History Now;" 2) the 2020 Presentation to Congress: Broadening Participation in STEM sponsored by the United States House Committee on Science, Space and Technology; and 3) the 2019 "Science Nation" video "Research immerses HBCU undergrads in biomedical engineering."Dr. Thompson earned her Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Massachusetts Lowell, followed by a Master of Science degree in aeronautical and astronautical engineering at Stanford University and a doctoral degree in biomedical engineering from the Harvard-MIT Program in Health Sciences and Technology. Her doctoral research was the first to demonstrate that a vestibular-based sensory prosthetic can improve the ability to maintain balance.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.