Dr. John Boockvar, the Alvina and Willis Murphy Assistant Professor of Neurological Surgery, has been chosen to receive the 2006 Neurosurgery Research and Education Foundation (NREF) Young Clinician Investigator Award from the American Association of Neurological Surgeons. The award provides $40,000 for one year to young physician-scientists to fund pilot studies and to develop preliminary studies to support applications for more permanent funding. "Your research will be a valuable contribution to the field of neurosurgery," writes the NREF to Dr. Boockvar. Dr. Boockvar has also just begun a clinical trial exploring whether the drug Tarceva can effectively treat patients with glioblastoma multiforme brain tumors.
Jennifer Hellawell, a medical student in the Class of 2007, has been selected for a Fogarty-Ellison Fellowship, sponsored by the National Institutes of Health's (NIH's) Fogarty International Center, in partnership with The Ellison Medical Foundation, the NIH National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, and the NIH National Institute on Drug Abuse. The one-year fellowship will allow her to gain clinical research training at a top-ranked NIH-sponsored international research center in a developing country. Hellawell will be going to China. The highly selective fellowship (approximately 200 applied and only 20 selected) is awarded to individuals with a strong academic record and proven interest or potential in international health activities or clinical research.
Ryan Heller
Ryan Heller, a final-year graduate student in the BCMB (Biochemistry & Structural Biology, Cell Biology & Genetics, and Molecular Biology) program, has received the prestigious Harold M. Weintraub Graduate Student Award from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center. The award, given annually to up to 15 students in the United States and worldwide, recognizes Heller's outstanding achievement during graduate studies in the biological sciences. In 2005, Heller's studies in Dr. Ken Marian's laboratory at Sloan-Kettering have resulted in three papers published in respected journals, including Nature, Molecular Cell and Journal of Biological Chemistry. Heller will be accepting the award and presenting his work at the scientific symposium honoring the late Dr. Weintraub at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle, on May 5-6.