Parisa Hosseinzadeh, an assistant professor in the Department of Bioengineering, has been recognized with the University of Oregon's Early Career Award — the university's highest honor for emerging faculty, in celebration of her significant contributions to peptide design using artificial intelligence and laboratory experimentation. The award is one of several given through the Office of the Vice 

President for Research and Innovation’s 2026 Outstanding Research Awards, which highlight notable research activities taking place at the UO.

The Hosseinzadeh's Lab focuses on synthesizing new proteins and peptides — the molecular building blocks of proteins — to tackle some of the challenges of the 21st century. The team’s new biosensors and therapeutics have potential applications in the earlier detection and treatment of cancer and other serious diseases. 

A nominator praised Hosseinzadeh’s "tight integration of computation and experiment," which is helping transform peptide design into a more predictive and reproducible discipline.