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NYU BIOTECHNOLOGY STUDY CENTER HONORS ARNOLD J. LEVINE, JUDAH FOLKMAN, AND EMIL C. GOTSCHLICH
NEW YORK, NY – March 10, 2008 – The Biotechnology Study Center of NYU School of Medicine will honor three outstanding pioneers in biomedical research at its annual awards symposium to be held on March 31, 2008. The Dart/NYU Biotechnology Achievement Awards recognize the role of pure science in the development of pharmaceuticals, and particularly honor those scientists whose work has led to major advances at the bedside. A traditional Steuben glass sculpture and honorarium accompanies each award.
The 2008 awards will be given to Arnold J. Levine, who has defined the molecular basis of tumor suppression; Judah Folkman (posthumously) for discovering how and why new blood vessels are formed (angiogenesis); Emil C. Gotschlich for developing new vaccines and describing exactly how microbes injure cells. Each of these discoveries has changed the way that doctors approach diseases that range from meningitis to cancer.
These distinguished achievements in medical research will be honored at a ceremony to be held at 4:00 p.m. in Schwartz Lecture Hall F at NYU School of Medicine. Dr. Gerald Weissmann, Director of the Biotechnology Study Center, will chair the symposium, which will be co-sponsored by The Honors Program and feature presentations on each of the awards.
The ceremony will be followed by a public reception in the Faculty Dining Room. Since 2004, the awards have been aided by a generous grant from Dart Neuroscience LLC and are awarded on behalf of the Fellows of the Center.
THE AWARD RECIPIENTS
In Basic Biotechnology: Arnold J. Levine, (Professor, Institute for Advanced Study)
Arnold Levine's focus for more than 2 decades has been the p53 gene. He isolated, cloned, and characterized the properties of the gene, a tumor suppressor gene whose mutations are implicated in a number of cancers. Combinations of germ line mutations and polymorphisms in the p53 signal transduction pathway (which he has also unraveled), both increase the frequency and decrease the age of onset of cancers. These observations now unify the roles of viruses, chemicals, genes, and aging in the causes of cancers in humans and lead to rational approaches to drug design and first response of cancers without toxicity.
In Applied Biotechnology: Judah Folkman (1933-2008)
(Julia Dyckman Andrus Professor of Pediatric Surgery, Harvard Medical School)
David G. Nathan, President Emeritus of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, will accept the award and discuss Dr. Folkman’s work.
In 1971, Judah Folkman founded an entire field of basic and applied research: angiogenesis. He proposed that all tumor growth is angiogenesis -dependent and isolated the first tumor-derived angiogenic factor. Today, angiogenesis inhibitors and stimulators are directed not only at cancer, e.g. AvastinÒ (bevacizumab) and macular degeneration, e.g. LucentisÒ (ranibizumab), but are in trials for heart disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and endometriosis. Because of Dr. Folkman's vision, more than 10 new cancer drugs are currently on the market, and more than 1.2 million patients worldwide are now receiving anti-angiogenic therapy.
The NYU Alumnus Achievement Award:
Emil C. Gotschlich (R. Gwin Follis-Chevron Professor, Rockefeller University)
The vaccines for prevention of groups A and C meningococcal meningitis, for which Emil Gotschlich received a Lasker award, were the first instance of vaccines standardized solely on their physical and chemical properties. He moved on to studies of the pathogenicity of streptococci and the gonococcus. His laboratory has defined the molecular mechanisms for high-frequency variation of gonococcal endotoxin and determined its role in pathogenesis. Recently his laboratory has worked out how and why the gonococcus invades epithelial cells to cause disease and has pinpointed outer membrane proteins (called "opacity" proteins) as the culprit.
Previous Winners
2001
For Basic Biotechnology: CELERA GENOMICS (J. Craig Venter)
For Applied Biotechnology: ALEXION (Leonard Bell)
NYU Alumnus Biotechnology Award: STEVEN SHAK (Genentech)
2002
For Basic Biotechnology: DAVID BALTIMORE (Cal. Inst. Technology)
For Applied Biotechnology: CELGENE (Sol J. Barer)
NYU Faculty Biotechnology Award: JAN T. VILCEK (NYU)
2003
For Basic Biotechnology: ALEXANDER RICH (MIT)
For Applied Biotechnology: EUGENE BELL (MIT)
NYU Alumnus Biotechnology Award: BARRY COLLER (Rockefeller)
2004
For Basic Biotechnology: MATTHEW S. MESELSON, (Harvard University)
For Applied Biotechnology: WILLIAM P. AREND, (University of Colorado)
NYU Biotechnology Faculty Award: PETER ELSBACH, (NYU School of Medicine)
2005
For Basic Biotechnology: RICHARD A. LERNER (Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA)
For Applied Biotechnology: PHILIP NEEDLEMAN (Washington University St. Louis, MO; Partner, Prospect Ventures)
The NYU Alumnus Award in Biotechnology: STUART F. SCHLOSSMAN (Harvard Medical School)
2006
For Basic Biotechnology: JEAN-PIERRE CHANGEUX (Institut Pasteur, Collège de France)
In Applied Biotechnology: CHARLES WEISSMANN (Scripps, Florida)
The NYU Alumnus Achievement Award: ERIC KANDEL (Columbia University)
2007
For Basic Biotechnology: JOAN V. RUDERMAN (Harvard University)
In Applied Biotechnology: SALVADOR MONCADA, FRS
(Director, Wolfson Institute for Biomedical Research, University College London)
The NYU Alumnus Achievement Award: CHARLES N. SERHAN (Harvard University)
About the Center
The Biotechnology Study Center brings together an extraordinary group of biomedical scientists, social scientists, legal experts, and business leaders, who are among the top movers and shakers in their fields. It was established in 2000 by Dr. Weissmann, Research Professor of Medicine at NYU School of Medicine and Director of the Biotechnology Study Center, and Nobel laureates Sir John Vane of the William Harvey Research Institute, and Bengt Samuelsson of the Karolinska Institute, among others.
A list of the Center’s Fellows can be obtained by calling the Public Affairs Office at NYU School of Medicine.
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