This year’s Samuel F. Hinkle Outstanding Young Investigator Award was presented to Willard M. Freeman, assistant professor in the Department of Pharmacology in the Penn State College of Medicine. Freeman earned his doctorate in pharmacology from Wake Forest University School of Medicine and joined the College of Medicine faculty in 2005. He serves as director of the Functional Genomics Core facility. Freeman was chosen from a list of accomplished researchers for his work in genomics and behavioral neurobiology to receive this award.
The Samuel F. Hinkle Society was established in 1975. Individuals who achieve the rank of professor are invited to become members. In 1984, the Hinkle Society initiated a lectureship to recognize an Outstanding Junior Investigator in the College of Medicine. The selection of the award recipient involves a process that includes department chairs, active members of the society and the Steering Committee. The active and eligible members of the Hinkle Society receive the curriculum vitae and research summaries of the nominees, and selection of the award recipient is determined by plurality of the votes received.