Dr. Laurie H. Glimcher Wins Award from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
Dr. Laurie H. Glimcher, the Stephen and Suzanne Weiss Dean of Weill Cornell Medical College, has won the 2013 Vanderbilt Prize in Biomedical Sciences from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.
Dr. Laurie H. Glimcher
The prize, established in 2006, honors nationally and internationally renowned female scientists who have an exemplary record of research achievements and who have a commitment and dedication to mentoring fellow women scientists.
Dr. Glimcher was honored as this year's winner for her contributions to understanding T helper cell development and its relevance to cancer and autoimmune, allergic and infectious diseases, as well as for serving as a mentor and role model for women in medicine and science.
She will receive her award at Vanderbilt on May 1, and deliver a Flexner Discovery Lecture, part of a series established by the university that features eminent scientists who speak about high-impact research and policy issues in science and medicine.
"The prize continues the mission of imparting the value Vanderbilt places on discovery research, mentoring, and women scientists, three characteristics which are vital to our continuing leadership as a research institution," said Dr. Susan Wente, associate vice chancellor for research and senior associate dean for biomedical sciences at Vanderbilt.
Dr. Glimcher's research discoveries have helped improve understanding of the human immune system and how to manipulate it to better fight disease. She is particularly well known for her lab's discovery of the first T helper 1-specific transcription factor, T-bet, and the first transcription factor, XBP-1, known to control differentiation of the B lymphocyte to the antibody-producing plasma cell. Her lab used T-bet transcription to establish a mouse model for asthma and reported that T-bet deficiency in mice causes ulcerative colitis. She and her colleagues have identified a primary role for XBP-1 in lipogenesis and the pathogenesis of intestinal inflammation in humans.
This is the fifth award Dr. Glimcher has received in the past two years. Earlier this year, Dr. Glimcher received the AWSM Award for Excellence from The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research's Advancing Women in Science and Medicine organization. In 2012 she was awarded the Dr. Luis Federico Leloir Prize of International Cooperation in Science, Technology and Innovation from Argentina's Ministry of Science, Technology and Productive Innovation; the William B. Coley Award for Distinguished Research in Basic Immunology from the Cancer Research Institute; and the Ernst W. Bertner Memorial Award from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
Additional awards and honors
Dr. Scott C. Blanchard, associate professor of physiology and biophysics, gave an invited lecture titled "Revealing the Mechanistic Connection between Structure, Dynamics and Function in Macromolecular Systems through Single-Molecule Imaging" at Leopold Franzens University in Austria, Charite University in Germany and the Gene Center in Germany. Dr. Blanchard was also an invited lecturer for his talk titled "Allosteric Control of the Ribosome by Small-Molecule Antibiotics" at the Ribosome Conference in California and the European Molecular Biology Laboratories, Protein Synthesis and Translational Control Conference in Germany. Dr. Blanchard gave these lectures between July and September.
Dr. Joseph Fins, the E. William Davis, Jr., MD Professor of Medical Ethics, professor of medicine, professor of public health and professor of medicine in psychiatry, was appointed associate editor of the Encyclopedia of Bioethics, fourth edition, as well as associate editor of the Journal of Clinical Ethics. The encyclopedia is a five volume set with more than 450 entries exploring the latest issues in bioethics. The journal also addresses current issues of bioethics and is issued quarterly.
Dr. Peter M. Fleischut, assistant professor of anesthesiology, was named to Modern Healthcare's 2013 "Up & Comers" list on Sept. 21. The list honors rising young stars in the health care management field that are under 40 years of age and have made significant contributions to health care administration, management or policy.
Dr. Maureen Lane, assistant research professor of molecular biology in medicine, was accepted into the National Institutes of Health Center for Scientific Review Early Career Reviewer Program in August. The program was developed to help emerging researchers advance their careers by exposing them to peer review. The program allows researchers to begin reviewing and evaluating grant applications submitted to the National Institutes of Health.
Dr. Arthur SpielmanΒΈ adjunct clinical professor of psychology in neurology, was appointed chair of the National Sleep Foundation's Insomnia Subcommittee. Dr. Spielman was also appointed to the foundation's Scientific Advisory Council. The National Sleep Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving sleep health and safety through education, public awareness and advocacy.