Meet the 2026 Awardees: Aleksandra Babicheva, PhD & Jason J. Gokey, PhD
Aleksandra Babicheva, PhD is an Assistant Professor in the Hormel Institute at the University of Minnesota. She earned her PhD in Physiology in Russia and completed the postdoctoral training in pulmonary vascular disease with Dr. Jason Yuan. Dr. Babicheva has been the ATS member since 2016 and contributed to ATS mission by presenting her research work at ATS International Conference meetings, publishing manuscripts and serving as a reviewer at ATS journals. She participated in ATS New Faculty Boot Camp which prepared her for a faculty position. Now she is an active member of Early Career Working Group and the Programming Committee within RSF Assembly. In addition, Dr. Babicheva was selected for the Editor Apprentice Program by one of the ATS journals, American Journal of Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology. Recently she was invited as a Young Investigator delegate to represent the ATS at the 66th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Respiratory Society (Kobe, Japan). Her research interests include the molecular mechanisms of vascular remodeling and right heart failure in pulmonary hypertension.
Jason J. Gokey, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Allergy, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine within the Department of Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Dr. Gokey earned his baccalaureate degree in biology and chemistry from SUNY Potsdam, where he studied and published his first manuscript in fisheries biology. He then went on to earn his PhD in cellular and developmental biology using the zebrafish model to study left-right asymmetry and cardiac development under the guidance of Dr. Jeffrey Amack at SUNY Upstate Medical University. He then completed his postdoctoral fellowship training program in pulmonary biology at the Cincinnati Children's Medical Center under the mentorship of Dr. Jeffrey Whitsett. He was then recruited to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in June of 2020, where he began to establish an independent research program.
Dr. Gokey's research has focused on the abnormal epithelial cell signaling associated with the progression of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), a disease associated with abnormal epithelial cell differentiation, failure to repair after injury, and poor prognosis. Much of this work has focused on developmental pathways (mostly hippo-YAP/TAZ) and long non-coding RNAs associated with normal repair processes, that when abnormally regulated, lead to failed repair and fibrotic progression. It is Dr. Gokey's continuing endeavor to unravel the underlying mechanisms of adaptive lung repair and the aberrant processes associated with pulmonary fibrosis development and progression. He has shown a consistent and passionate interest in alveolar repair and IPF throughout his academic career and is dedicated to training future scientists and furthering original research in this area.
Award Description
Sponsored by the ATS Science and Innovation Center, the Rising Star awards will honor promising, junior basic/translational scientists performing novel research in the area of respiratory structure and function. If suitable candidates are nominated, two Rising Star awards will be presented each year. Nomination of diverse candidates is encouraged.
The awardees will showcase their research by presenting 15 min talks during a Rising Stars session hosted by the Science and Innovation Center during the ATS International Conference. The awardees will receive certificates during the same session.
Criteria
- Junior investigator at the rank of postdoctoral or medical fellow, assistant professor or equivalent
- RSF Assembly membership, either primary or secondary
- Basic/translational researcher in the area of respiratory structure and function
- More than one first-authored paper in a well-respected journal
- Early career accomplishments and future promise
- Nominee’s current curriculum vitae including a list of nominee’s publications
- Nominator’s letter of recommendation
Nomination letter should describe nominee's
- Basic/translational research contributions and promise
- Independence or future potential for independence
- Involvement in ATS, including any involvement in RSF Assembly
- Service to the broader scientific or medical community, if applicable
- Mentorship or teaching activities