Professor Priyabrata Mukherjee, Ph.D, was one of two University of Oklahoma College of Medicine faculty, alongwith Mary Moon, Ph.D., who were honored recently for their excellence in teaching and research. Moon received the 2026 Stanton L. Young Master Teacher Award, and Mukherjee received the Stanton L. Young Excellence in Research Award, an April 14, 2026, press release from the University said.
This is the 43rd annual presentation of the Master Teacher Award, which recognizes the “transformative power of exceptional teaching” and originates from nominations from students. The award was established through an endowment made by the late Oklahoma City businessman Stanton L. Young, and comes with a $15,000 cash prize, one of the largest in the nation for medical teaching excellence, the University said.
According to the details provided by the press release, Mukherjee is a professor in the Department of Pathology in the OU College of Medicine. He also serves at OU Health Stephenson Cancer Center as the senior director of Research Partnership and Collaboration, as well as co-director of the Nanomedicine Program. He was honored for his “dedication to basic and translational science and his leadership in the fields of nanoscience and molecular oncology.”
Mukherjee’s research has been continuously funded by R01 grants, considered the “gold standard” in National Institutes of Health funding, and he is currently the principal investigator on three R01s and co-principal investigator on four other grants. He leads a multidisciplinary laboratory, publishes high-impact papers and creates patentable technologies, the University said.
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Mukherjee is recognized as an “outstanding mentor” working with high school students through faculty members. Currently, his laboratory consists of early-career faculty members, postdoctoral fellows, graduate students and research technicians.
His previous recognitions and awards include the George Lynn Cross Professorship and the Presbyterian Health Foundation Presidential Professorship. He also holds the Peggy and Charles Stephenson Endowed Chair in Cancer Laboratory Research.
Additionally, he is a foreign fellow of the Indian National Science Academy and chair of the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Medical and Biomedical Engineering.
He is co-chair of the Web of Life Conference, which brings together experts from different fields to facilitate dialogue and foster collaboration.
The news release also noted comments made by those nominating and supporting Mukherjee for the award. They include praise for Mukherjee as “an outstanding biomedical engineer and scientist whose highly creative past and ongoing work holds great promise for our fellow Oklahomans and patients far beyond.” Another said that his work shows an “incredible depth and maturation” and yet another, that he is able to “build large teams of funded investigators who are doing cutting-edge, impactful research.”