The ORS/OREF Distinguished Investigator Award was established in 2009 by the OREF and ORS to honor an individual who has significantly contributed to the field of orthopaedic research, to the ORS, and the OREF through their outstanding scientific achievements and their commitment of time and service.
A review team is comprised of five individuals which include; the most recent ORS/OREF Distinguished Investigator Award honoree, representatives of the OREF Research Grant Committee, representatives from the Awards and Recognition Committee, and an ad hoc review chair.
All nominees submitted will be reviewed by the review team and the final selection will be based on the following criteria:
- Significant contributions to the field of orthopaedic research.
- Demonstration of leadership in the field of orthopaedic research.
- Demonstration of mentorship in the field of orthopaedic research.
- Significant career achievement and a record of innovative research.
- Service to the ORS and OREF.
- Demonstrated professionalism.
- Must be an Established Member of the ORS.
Overview
The ORS and Orthopaedic Research and Education Foundation (OREF) will honor an individual with a long-standing, productive career in orthopaedic research.
Nominations
The person nominating the ORS member for this award must include the following information about the nominee at the time of submission:
- NIH Biosketch
- Letter of recommendation
- Statement of service to ORS and OREF
Self-nominations and nominations from the review team are not accepted for this award.
If you have questions prior to your submission, please contact us at [email protected].
2026 ORS/OREF Distinguished Investigator Award
Rocky S. Tuan, PhD
Professor Tuan (Ph.D., Rockefeller University), the immediate past Vice-Chancellor and President of The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK; 2018 to 2025), a globally top-40 ranked comprehensive research university, is an internationally renowned biomedical scientist who specializes in musculoskeletal biology, tissue regeneration, stem cells, biomaterials, 3D bioprinting, and tissue/organ-on-a-chip technologies. He is currently the Lee Quo Wei Lee Yick Hoi Lun Professor of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine at CUHK, where he founded the Institute for Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine (iTERM) in 2016. A prolific and highly cited author of over 650 publications, he has received multiple awards and international recognitions, including the Marshall Urist Award, Clemson & Carnegie Science Awards, and Fellowships in the National Academy of Inventors (NAI), American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), International Combined Orthopaedic Research Societies (ICORS) and Orthopaedic Research Society (ORS), and Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society (TERMIS), the latest being the 2025 Jensen Tissue Engineering Award from TERMIS. In 2025, he is the recipient of an honorary degree, Doctor of Medicine (honoris causa), from the University of Sydney. In December 2019, Professor Tuan was named by Times Higher Education as one of the “People of the Year, 2019”, a recognition given to only 11 individuals from around the world, including a Nobel Prize winner, who had shaped higher education in 2019. He was elected as Chair of the Association of Pacific Rim Universities (2023-2025), a consortium of 62 universities from 18 economies on both sides of the Pacific (Americas, Asia, and Australasia), and is a member of the Leadership Council of the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network. He is the founding editor of Birth Defects Research (2003-2017) and Stem Cell Research & Therapy (2009-present), and Associate Editor of Stem Cells Translational Medicine (2011-present).
