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Honors & Other Things |
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January 28, 2014, Volume 60, No. 20 |
Federal EEEC: Dr. Carr
Young Investigator: Dr. Cubukcu
President, Surgery Academy: Dr. Drebin
Five Penn Medicine Researchers Among Top Gene Therapy Researchers Selected by Journal
John Scott Award: Dr. Dutton
Churchill Scholarship: Ms. Foster
IEEE Fellow: Dr. Lee
Research Award: Dr. Sommers
Book Award: Dr. Tresch
Federal EEEC: Dr. Carr |
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Dr. Brendan G. Carr, assistant professor of emergency medicine and epidemiology at the Perelman School of Medicine, has been named director of the Emergency Care Coordination Center (ECCC). Following a landmark report on the future of emergency care by the Institute of Medicine, the ECCC was created by Presidential Directive in order to improve national preparedness and response by promoting research, regional partnerships and effective emergency medical systems. The ECCC exists within the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Preparedness & Response (ASPR) within the US Department of Health & Human Services.
“Appointment into this prestigious role within the federal government will allow Dr. Carr to bridge his academic and policy work and brings national attention to his body of work at Penn,” said Dr. Jill M. Baren, chair of the department of emergency medicine and chief of emergency services at the University of Pennsylvania Health System. “During his time in Washington, Dr. Carr will maintain his faculty position and academic appointment at Penn and will continue to work clinically in the emergency department at HUP.” |
Young Investigator: Dr. Cubukcu |
Dr. Ertugrul Cubukcu, assistant professor in the department of materials science and engineering in Penn Engineering, is the recipient of a 2014 Young Investigator Award from the IEEE Photonics Society. This award honors his “contributions to photonics beyond the diffraction limit with nanoantenna-based devices and sensors.” This award was established to honor an individual who has made outstanding technical contributions to photonics prior to his or her 35th birthday.
Dr. Cubukcu’s research lies at the interface of engineering, physics, material science and biology with the main themes of nanophotonics and nanotechnology. |
President, Surgery Academy: Dr. Drebin |
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Dr. Jeffrey A. Drebin, chair of the department of surgery at the Perelman School of Medicine and the John Rhea Barton Professor of Surgery, has been elected the 2014 president of the Philadelphia Academy of Surgery, the oldest surgical society in the US.
He is the co-principal investigator on a $22 million clinical and translational “dream team” award from the Stand Up to Cancer Foundation for innovative studies in pancreatic cancer. They are developing tests using advanced imaging technology to better understand pancreatic cancer cells and develop new, personalized treatments based on that research.
“I’m honored to be stepping into this new role at the Academy,” said Dr. Drebin. “It’s a great privilege to follow in the footsteps of those before me who I have admired, including several past presidents from Penn and lead such a historically significant and impactful society in 2014.” |
Five Penn Medicine Researchers Among Top Gene Therapy Researchers Selected by Journal |
The peer-reviewed journal Human Gene Therapy is celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2014 by publishing a series of Perspectives by top researchers in the field of cell and gene therapy. Five scientists from the Perelman School of Medicine are among the 21 investigators who will be honored throughout the next 12 months.
The scientists, who have made seminal contributions for an extended period of time, were chosen for their seminal contributions to the field in a "ground breaking clinical study or a basic/technical advance that has substantially influenced the direction and/or trajectory of translational research," according to the journal. In some areas, the Pioneer award was shared among more than one scientist because seminal work within a programmatic area could not be fairly singled out.
The Pioneer awardees from Penn are:
Gene therapy for eye disorders (co-awardee):
Dr. Jean Bennett, F.M. Kirby Professor of Ophthalmology; professor of cell and developmental biology
Vector integration and tumorigenesis (co-awardee):
Dr. Frederic D. Bushman, professor of microbiology
CARs for cancer gene therapy/lentiviral gene therapy clinical trials: (co-awardee)
Dr. Carl H. June, the Richard W. Vague Professor in Immunotherapy; professor of pathology and laboratory medicine; director of translational research in the Abramson Cancer Center
Basic and clinical gene therapy for hemophilia: (co-awardee)
Dr. Katherine A. High, the William H. Bennett Professor of Pediatrics, Perelman School of Medicine; director, Center for Cellular and Molecular Therapeutics, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Basic and clinical AAV vector development:
Dr. James M. Wilson, professor of pathology and laboratory medicine; director, Gene Therapy Program
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John Scott Award: Dr. Dutton |
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Dr. P. Leslie Dutton, Eldridge Reeves Johnson Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics at the Perelman School of Medicine, is a recipient of the John Scott Award, one of the top prizes in the world of science and medicine.
Dr. Dutton, whose lifetime of research into the mechanism of electron transport, holds the key to fundamental explanations about the energy of all living cells. “To win this award, and to win it in Philadelphia for electron transfer, is a total treat for me,” said Dr. Dutton. “My work is essentially bioelectricity—electron transfer through proteins that provide the energy by which cells exist—can trace its roots back through the centuries to Philadelphia and the work of Benjamin Franklin and his work in the discovery of electricity here in Philadelphia.”
Dr. Dutton is a Fellow of the Royal Society. He also serves as director of the Johnson Foundation for Molecular Biophysics. |
Churchill Scholarship: Ms. Foster |
Sarah Foster, a senior at the University of Pennsylvania, has been awarded a Winston Churchill Scholarship, a merit-based award for American college students who are outstanding in engineering, mathematics and physical and biological sciences. The scholarship will support her studies at the University of Cambridge, where she will live at Churchill College.
Ms. Foster, of Ashland, Ohio, is pursuing a bachelor’s degree with a triple major in physics, biochemistry and biophysics, as well as a master’s degree in chemistry. She is a Vagelos Scholar, was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa as a junior and won the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship in 2013.
Ms. Foster is one of 14 US students awarded Churchill Scholarships this year. |
IEEE Fellow: Dr. Lee |
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Dr. Dan Lee, professor in the department of electrical and systems engineering in Penn Engineering, has been elected an IEEE Fellow for “contributions to machine learning algorithms for perception and motor control.” IEEE Fellow is a distinction reserved for select IEEE members whose extraordinary accomplishments in any of the IEEE fields of interest are deemed fitting of this prestigious grade elevation. IEEE is the world’s largest professional association dedicated to advancing technological innovation and excellence for the benefit of humanity.
Dr. Lee’s research focuses on applying knowledge about biological information processing systems to building better artificial sensorimotor systems that can adapt and learn from experience. |
Research Award: Dr. Sommers |
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Dr. Marilyn (Lynn) Sawyer Sommers, the Lillian S. Brunner Professor of Medical-Surgical Nursing in Penn Nursing, has been named the 2013 recipient of the Sigma Theta Tau International Elizabeth McWilliams Miller Award for Excellence in Research, given at the STTI 42nd Biennial Convention in Indianapolis.
The research program she pioneered is collaborative and interdisciplinary and is focused on human response to injury in general, with particular emphasis on risk-taking behaviors that lead to injury, as well as on the physical consequences of injury which are major international healthcare priorities. Dr. Sommers’ findings have revealed difference in the treatment of women following sexual assault due to differences in skin color.
She is also director of the Center for Global Women’s Health at Penn Nursing. |
Book Award: Dr. Tresch |
Dr. John Tresch, associate professor of the history and sociology of science in Penn’s School of Arts & Sciences, received the 2013 Pfizer Prize for Best Scholarly Book from the History of Science Society (HSS) for The Romantic Machine: Utopian Science and Technology after Napoleon. The Pfizer Prize recognizes an outstanding book in the history of science and is the highest honor awarded by the HSS for a single work of scholarship.
“Romantic Machine is as imaginative and provocative as the works of the scientists and philosophers that make up its raw materials,” wrote the prize committee. “It is also a model of historical writing: clearly structured, clearly written and synthetic, it enfolds texts, images and contexts with masterful ease. It is a pleasure to read a book that is not only transformative but inspirational.” |
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Almanac -
January 28, 2014, Volume 60, No. 20
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