Dr. Ebru Oral with her two daughters at the induction ceremony for the National Academy of Inventors
Dr. Ebru Oral with her two daughters at the induction ceremony for the National Academy of Inventors

Ebru Oral, PhD, Associate Director of the Harris Orthopaedics Laboratory, has been inducted as a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI). Dr. Oral was elected as a Fellow in 2019, and, in November 2021, she attended the induction ceremony in Tampa with her daughters Leela and Alara (picture at right). At Massachusetts General Hospital, there are nine NAI fellows. Dr. Oral is the first woman from the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery to be elected to the NAI Fellows Program.

According to the NAI, the Fellows Program "was established to highlight academic inventors who have demonstrated a prolific spirit of innovation in creating or facilitating outstanding inventions that have made a tangible impact on quality of life, economic development and the welfare of society. Election to NAI Fellow status is the highest professional distinction accorded solely to academic inventors."

Working within the Harris Lab, Dr. Oral’s research expertise is in the science, application design and relevant testing of implantable polymeric materials to address orthopaedic problems. Her current work focuses on incorporating therapeutics for the controlled local release of antibiotics, anti-inflammatories and analgesics from implantable materials, and also developing the in-vitro and preclinical animal models for testing the efficacy of these inventions.