Livia Schiavinato Eberlin Honored for Her Work in Cancer Research

Livia Schiavinato Eberlin was named the 2024 recipient of the Norman Hackerman Award in Chemical Research. The award was established by the Houston-based Welch Foundation and recognizes the accomplishments of chemical scientists who are early in their careers. The award includes a $100,000 grant to support her research.

Dr. Eberlin is an associate professor of surgery at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. She directs the Lab for Medical Mass Spectrometry at the Baylor College of Medicine which is known for groundbreaking work in the application of mass spectrometry technologies, which are changing how physicians treat cancer and analyze tissues.

Dr. Eberlin developed the MasSpec Pen in 2016 while she was serving as an assistant professor at the University of Texas at Austin. The MasSpec Pen is a device for detecting cancer directly on tissues. The technology is being used in clinical studies to detect cancer tissue during a surgical operation, which allows doctors to more accurately remove tumor tissue. Dr. Eberlin was named a MacArthur Fellow in 2018.

Dr. Eberlin is originally from Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil, where she earned her undergraduate degree from State University of Campinas. She obtained a master’s degree from Purdue University and a Ph.D. in analytical chemistry from Stanford University.