AISES (Advancing Indigenous Science and Engineering Society) has named Mary Jo Ondrechen the 2026 recipient of the Ely S. Parker Award, the society’s highest honor. Ondrechen, a citizen of the Mohawk Nation, is a Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Northeastern University. She has spent her 4 decades as a researcher working to improve human outcomes around global health challenges. Her work has included advancing understanding of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that caused the COVID-19 pandemic, and research on a kinase target, which plays a role in creating certain cancer therapies. Her group is now studying enzymes and working toward finding potential cures for brain-eating amoebas, something that currently has no guaranteed cure.
Ondrechen is both a leader and mentor. She has served as chair of AISES’s board of directors and Academic Advisory Council, and she regularly shares her expertise with students, faculty, and fellow researchers. She has also created an endowed scholarship, named for her mother, to help support Indigenous students pursuing science, technology, engineering, and math degrees.
