ME Professor Honored for Distinguished Research

May 14, 2008

Steven Soper, the William L. and Patricia Senn, Jr. professor of chemistry and professor of mechanical engineering, received career recognition for decades of outstanding research by being named a Distinguished Research Master in a public ceremony on May 14 at the LSU Faculty Club. The annual awards are given in two categories: engineering, science and technology; arts, humanities and social sciences. Each winner receives an annualized salary supplement and the University Medal, the highest mark of distinction at LSU. 

Soper pursues research in biomedical technology, particularly the creation of miniaturized systems for identifying genetic mutations, important in molecular diagnostics and DNA forensics. Soper directs the Center for BioModular Multi-Scale Systems, a collaborative research effort spread over five universities in Louisiana and funded by the Louisiana Board of Regents and the National Science Foundation. The center supports the Human Genome Initiative by designing tools for diagnosing diseases including breast and colorectal cancers, sickle cell anemia and cystic fibrosis. An early proponent of the university’s synchrotron facility, the Center for Advanced Microstructures and Devices (CAMD), Soper utilizes its unique capabilities to build biological microelectromechanical systems, or BioMEMS, a technology that may revolutionize medicine and DNA forensics.

Soper received his PhD in 1989 at the University of Kansas and conducted post-doctorate research at Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Human Genome Center. After coming to LSU in 1991, he secured numerous high-profile federal and state grants totaling more than $30 million, resulting in more than 200 publications and several startup companies, an unmatched accomplishment in the LSU College of Basic Sciences.

Article excerpted from LSU Public Affairs News Release, Matt Mullenix, Office of Research and Economic Development, and Ashley Berthelot, LSU Media Relations, mlavall@lsu.edu, 225-578-5706