The Orthopaedic Research Society (ORS), which is dedicated to recognizing those that have made significant contributions to the field of orthopaedic research and to fostering the development of new investigators, recently honored its 2012 Awards Recipients and a Georgia Tech College of Engineering scholar was among those recognized.

Barbara Boyan, the Price Gilbert, Jr. Chair in Tissue Engineering in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University, received the Women's Leadership Award.

The ORS Women’s Leadership Award is given every year to recognize a woman biologist, clinician, or engineer who, throughout her professional lifetime, has made significant contributions to the understanding of the musculoskeletal system and musculoskeletal diseases and injuries. She will have also demonstrated outstanding leadership through service to the professional community and mentorship of colleagues and trainees.

Boyan is known widely for her work in bone and cartilage biology in the fields of orthopaedics, plastic and reconstructive surgery and oral health, with specific emphasis on the role of sex in determining how cells respond to steroid hormones and to biomaterials used in medical devices. She is also an entrepreneur and has seen her inventions move from the design stage to use in patients with musculoskeletal pathologies.

She is also associate dean for research and innovation in the Georgia Tech College of Engineering and a Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar.