Price Earns $75,000 Lockhart Memorial Prize
The Focused Ultrasound Foundation announced that Richard Price, professor of biomedical engineering, radiology and radiation oncology, has been selected as the inaugural recipient of the $75,000 Andrew J. Lockhart Memorial Prize.
Terry and Eugene Lockhart, the parents of the award’s namesake, presented the prize on Oct. 2.
The prize was established by Andrew’s family and friends with the hope that focused ultrasound research can contribute to new therapies for solid cancers. Andrew died in 2016 after a battle with cholangiocarcinoma, a particularly virulent cancer affecting the biliary system of the liver and gallbladder. Andrew’s mother, Terry Lockhart, said, “Our family, including Andrew, was excited about the potential of focused ultrasound as a breakthrough treatment for very difficult cancers like his. This prize is a way for Andrew’s death to have a lasting, positive effect on others.”
"This prize encourages the pursuit of new and exciting opportunities in the field of focused ultrasound and reminds everyone in my lab that people really care about the work we are doing and value our collective contributions."
Richard Price, PhD
The prize is awarded to an investigator who has already made outstanding contributions to the advancement of cancer treatment using focused ultrasound and who demonstrates great potential for further achievements in the field. Price has led focused ultrasound research projects on drug and gene delivery across the blood-brain barrier, drug and gene delivery to skeletal muscle to promote new blood vessel growth, and the mechanical effects of ultrasound-activated microbubbles to ablate tumors. The potential impact of his work across multiple diseases and its capability to lead to future innovations in the focused ultrasound field exemplifies the purpose of this prize.
“Rich Price has been on the vanguard of focused ultrasound’s application in the fight against cancer and other elusive diseases,” said Dr. Richard P. Shannon, UVA’s executive vice president for health affairs. “Focused ultrasound can be transformational in a multimodality approach.”
“I am grateful to receive this award from the Lockhart family,” Price said. “This prize encourages the pursuit of new and exciting opportunities in the field of focused ultrasound and reminds everyone in my lab that people really care about the work we are doing and value our collective contributions.”
Price has donated the prize winnings to the department of biomedical engineering, establishing a fund to support leading edge research using focused ultrasound to treat cancer.