Heather Young honored for contributions to education by nurse leaders association.

Heather Young, UC Davis

Heather M. Young, associate vice chancellor for nursing and founding dean at the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at UC Davis, was honored with the 2012 Best Practice Education Award by the Association of California Nurse Leaders.Young received the award at the 34th Annual Association of California Nurse Leaders Conference Awards Banquet Luncheon Feb. 7 in Rancho Mirage. The award recognizes a nurse for excellence in nursing leadership. Young was specifically recognized for her contributions in the area of nursing education.

The Association of California Nurse Leaders is a professional nonprofit organization that works to develop nurse leaders, advance professional practice, influence health policy and promote quality and patient safety. The organization serves as a voice for nurse leaders throughout the state.

“I am honored to receive this award from my colleagues throughout California,” Young said. “I look forward to many contributions of UC Davis nursing faculty to nursing education in our state.”

A nurse leader, educator and scientist, Young is a nationally recognized expert in gerontological nursing and rural health care. As the founding dean of the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing, she leads the launch of the school at UC Davis, development of a thriving graduate program, and the recruitment of the founding team of faculty and staff.

Young was nominated for the award by Ginger Manss, 2012 president of the association and director of Cancer Services at St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Stockton, Calif. In her nomination, Manss cited Young’s leadership and other contributions as deserving of recognition.

“Heather Young is a phenomenal nurse leader who is literally changing the landscape of higher nursing education in California,” Manss wrote.

In addition, Manss applauded Young’s collaborative work with others and participation in association events.

“She has spoken at Association of California Nurse Leader meetings throughout the state and most recently served as the keynote speaker for the California Student Nursing Association October 2011 Annual Conference,” Manss wrote. “She has worked tirelessly with other association leaders in providing leadership for the California Action Coalition work on the Institute of Medicine ‘Future of Nursing’ report by serving on the Executive Committee for this important work.”

The executive committee leads California efforts to implement the report’s recommendations. “The Future of Nursing” outlines a series of strategies to improve the nation’s health-care system and advance health through nursing, a goal that is consistent with the vision of the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing. The California Regional Action Coalition is one of 36 statewide coalitions to pilot implementation of the report’s recommendations.

UC San Diego’s Kim Barrett will assume post at group’s annual meeting in April.

Kim Barrett, UC San Diego

Kim E. Barrett, Ph.D., professor of medicine and dean of graduate studies at the University of California, San Diego, will become president-elect of the American Physiological Society (APS).  APS is the nation’s premier nonprofit organization devoted to fostering education, scientific research and dissemination of information in the physiological science – the study of how molecules, cells, tissues and organs function to create health or disease.

Barrett, former editor-in-chief of the American Journal of Physiology: Cell Physiology, will assume her new duties at the APS annual meeting being held April 21-25 in San Diego.

A native of the United Kingdom, Barrett received her B.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees from the Department of Chemistry at University College London. Following a postdoctoral fellowship at the National Institutes of Health, she joined the faculty of UC San Diego School of Medicine in 1985 and became a professor of medicine in 1996.

Her research interests center on the normal and abnormal biology of the intestinal epithelium and their relevance to digestive diseases. She has received a number of honors for her research, including the degree of Doctor of Medical Science, honoris causa, by Queens University, Belfast, Ireland. She is a former awardee of the science-based Henry Pickering Bowditch and Horace Davenport Lectureships sponsored by the APS.  She is also the recipient of the 2012 Bodil M. Schmidt-Nielsen Distinguished Mentor and Scientist Award.

In 2006, Barrett was appointed dean of graduate studies at UC San Diego where she oversees the recruitment, academic advancement and climate for more than 4,000 masters degree and doctoral students. She also guides the development of new graduate programs and planning for an anticipated 50 percent growth in the graduate population at UC San Diego over the next 10 to12 years. In addition to her long-standing interest in student development and mentoring, she has been actively involved in the issue of women’s status in academia and served as the Chair of the APS’ Committee on Women in Physiology.

The elections come as the APS celebrates its 125^th anniversary. The society is the first society in the biomedical sciences field, with more than 10,500 members.

Service Industry Advertising Awards recognize “What Do You See” campaign.

UC Davis Health System‘s advertising campaign has won both a Gold Award and Best of Show in the Ninth Annual Service Industry Advertising Awards.

The Service Industry Advertising Awards are the only advertising awards that specifically recognize the achievements of the service industry. The health system’s “What Do You See” brand advertising campaign received one of nine Best of Show awards across all categories out of nearly 2,000 entries. The campaign also received one of eight Gold Awards in the “total advertising” category.

In the total advertising category, the health system and its advertising agency, SPM Marketing and Communications, submitted three television ads, four billboard ads and three print ads. A national panel of judges reviewed entries for execution, creativity, quality, consumer appeal and overall breakthrough advertising content.

Judges awarded 146 Gold, 111 Silver and 88 Bronze awards across all categories. Read more about the awards.

See the health system’s spring ad campaign materials.

Family and Community Medicine residency program also receives a commendation.

UC Davis' Thomas Balsbaugh (center) with family and community medicine residents

The residency program for the UC Davis Department of Family and Community Medicine has received accreditation for five years — the maximum possible — and a commendation from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). The organization evaluates and ensures excellence in post-graduate medical training programs in the United States using a rigorous peer-review process.

“Our faculty, residents and staff are united in creating a successful learning environment for physicians in training,” said Thomas Balsbaugh, residency program director and associate clinical professor of family and community medicine. “Our climate of professionalism and enthusiasm for helping residents connect with their passions as physicians played a strong role in the positive outcome of the accreditation process.”

The notification letter commended the program, which has been continuously accredited since 1984, for its “substantial compliance with the ACGME’s Requirements for Graduate Medical Education without citations.”

“This accreditation represents a substantial achievement by the residency program, the department and the graduate medical education team,” said Jim Nuovo, professor of family and community medicine and associate dean of Graduate Medical Education at the UC Davis School of Medicine. “It is very special when a program receives such a positive report, and it validates that the family and community medicine team provides a leading example of what residency programs can and should be in developing models of care and education that result in better health for all.”

Under Balsbaugh’s leadership, the residency program has earned a national reputation for excellence in mentoring the next generation of family medicine practitioners to provide high-quality, compassionate patient care. As principal investigator on the Song Brown Family Practice Residency Training Program and a number of other education grants, Balsbaugh is at the forefront of preparing health professionals to meet primary-care needs of diverse populations, especially the medically underserved.  In 2010, he and the residency program were featured on the PBS NewsHour about innovative approaches for addressing the nation’s shortage of primary-care physicians.

In addition to Nuovo and Balsbaugh, the family and community medicine team involved in the accreditation process included Barbara Burton, residency program coordinator; Kay Nelsen, associate clinical professor and associate director of the residency program; and Huey Lin, associate clinical professor and assistant director of the residency program.

The UC Davis School of Medicine is among the nation’s leading medical schools, recognized for its research and primary-care programs. The school offers fully accredited master’s degree programs in public health and in informatics, and its combined M.D.-Ph.D. program is training the next generation of physician-scientists to conduct high-impact research and translate discoveries into better clinical care. Along with being a recognized leader in medical research, the school is committed to serving underserved communities and advancing rural health. For more information, visit medschool.ucdavis.edu.

UC San Diego’s Larry Squire, UC Berkeley’s Robert Powell among 17 recognized for scientific achievements.

Larry Squire, UC San Diego

The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) will honor 17 individuals with awards in recognition of their extraordinary scientific achievements in a wide range of fields spanning the physical, biological and social sciences. Among them is Larry R. Squire, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor of psychiatry, neurosciences and psychology at the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine, and research career scientist at VA Medical Center, San Diego. Honorees also include Robert Powell, Robson Professor of Political Science at UC Berkeley.

Squire, a resident of Del Mar, is the recipient of the National Academy of Sciences Award for Scientific Reviewing. A leader in the field of memory and foremost expert in the anatomical and functional basis of mammalian memory, Squire is honored for “his prolific and comprehensive reviews on memory research, for his seminal books that are standards in the field, and critical reviews of books on neuroscience.”

The prize of $10,000, presented this year in the field of neuroscience, recognizes excellence in scientific reviewing. The award is supported by Annual Reviews, the Institute for Scientific Information and the Scientist in honor of J. Murray Luck.

Squire and 16 other NAS award recipients will be honored in a ceremony on Monday, April 30, during the National Academy of Sciences’ 149th annual meeting.

The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit institution that was established under a congressional charter signed by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863. It recognizes achievement in science by election to membership, and — along with the National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine and National Research Council — provides science, technology, and health policy advice to the federal government and other organizations.

UC campuses and labs awarded a total of more than $1.8B in NIH funding in 2011.

The University of California, San Francisco, received more research funds from the National Institutes of Health than any other public institution in 2011 and ranked second among all institutions nationwide, according to new figures released by the NIH. The funding helps UCSF continue to perform world-renowned health sciences research amid state budget cutbacks.

UCSF received 1,056 grants last year, totaling $532.8 million for research and training, fellowships and other awards. In 2010, UCSF also was the largest public recipient, with $475.4 million in funding.

The federal funding plays a key role in supporting UCSF’s graduate-level biomedical enterprise, including research into the genetic, molecular and cellular basis of diseases, epidemiological and clinical-research studies, and efforts to develop innovative treatments and cures. That research has led to four UCSF faculty members receiving the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, and has fueled significant advances in biomedical sciences.

“These grants are absolutely essential in supporting the work of our scientists as they tackle the most pressing questions in the health sciences,” said UCSF Chancellor Susan Desmond-Hellmann, M.D., M.P.H. “This broad-based support of UCSF research, in the context of increasingly competitive funds, is testament to the caliber of scientific discovery in each of our schools and the graduate division.”

UCSF has ranked among the nation’s top institutions in NIH funding for more than two decades, as have each of its schools. In 2011, all four UCSF schools ranked first in funding nationwide. The UCSF School of Pharmacy received $29.1 million in NIH funding, the most of any pharmacy school for the 32^nd consecutive year. The School of Medicine received $469.6 million, while the UCSF schools of Dentistry and Nursing received $19 million and $8.3 million, respectively.

Federal funding also buoys the local and regional economy, Desmond-Hellmann said, as the scientists purchase materials and instruments and employ laboratory staff. Other economic engines include patents and scientific advances generated by NIH-funded research and related industries, such as biotechnology.

Although school funding levels can appear to vary, based on how each grant is filed, current NIH data list the top five recipients of FY 2011 research funding as follows (not including research contracts or ARRA grants):

Public institutions:

1. UCSF ($532.8 million)
2. University of Michigan at Ann Arbor ($467.4 million)
3. University of Washington ($455.8 million)
4. University of Pittsburgh at Pittsburgh ($428.2 million)
5. UC San Diego ($398.0 million)

All institutions:

1. Johns Hopkins University ($645.3 million)
2. UCSF ($532.8 million)
3. University of Pennsylvania ($471.5 million)
4. University of Michigan at Ann Arbor ($467.4 million)
5. University of Washington ($455.8 million)

Schools of dentistry:

1. UCSF ($19 million)
2. University of Michigan at Ann Arbor ($15.3 million)
3. University of Maryland Baltimore ($10.6 million)
4. New York University ($9.4 million)
5. University of Southern California ($9.3 million)

Schools of medicine:

1. UCSF ($469.6 million)
2. Johns Hopkins University ($450.7 million)
3. University of Pennsylvania ($391.2 million)
4. Washington University ($348.0 million)
5. Yale University ($338.6 million).

Schools of nursing:

1. UCSF ($8.3 million)
2. University of Washington ($7.7 million)
3. University of Pennsylvania ($7.3 million)
4. Johns Hopkins University ($6.5 million)
5. University of Pittsburgh at Pittsburgh ($6.3 million).

Schools of pharmacy:

1. UCSF ($29.1 million)
2.  University of Kansas, Lawrence ($16.5 million)
3. University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill ($12.0 million)
4. UC San Diego (10.3 million)
5. University of Washington ($10.0 million)

UCSF is a leading university dedicated to promoting health worldwide through advanced biomedical research, graduate-level education in the life sciences and health professions, and excellence in patient care.

Developed therapy to stimulate spinal nerves, helping paralyzed to walk.

V. Reggie Edgerton, UCLA distinguished professor of integrative biology and physiology and of neurobiology; Yury Gerasimenko, professor and director of the laboratory of movement physiology at St. Petersburg’s Pavlov Institute and a researcher in UCLA’s Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology; and colleagues have been awarded a Popular Mechanics’ 2011 Breakthrough Award for developing “an electric therapy that stimulates spinal nerves, allowing the paralyzed to walk.” Edgerton, Gerasimenko and their UCLA colleagues have been studying the effects of electrical stimulation on the spinal cord for more than 30 years.

The annual Breakthrough Awards recognize the innovators and products that dramatically advanced such fields as science, technology and medicine. Popular Mechanics honored this “scientific dream team” for successfully performing the procedure on patient Rob Summers, a paralyzed volunteer who suffered a spinal cord injury from a hit-and-run accident in 2006. Epidural stimulation enabled Summers to stand and voluntarily move his toes, ankles, knees and hips on command.

V. Reggie Edgerton, UCLA

“Our team is very pleased that the recently reported results describing levels of functional recovery not previously observed in an individual with complete motor paralysis are being recognized by a magazine of such distinction and prestige as Popular Mechanics,” Edgerton said. “This magazine has pointed toward futuristic directions in science and engineering for many years and we are proud to be a part of that tradition.

“While our recent accomplishments are viewed as a breakthrough, we have had a large number of scientists in our lab that have played key roles. Since they are not officially listed as awardees, but played such key roles, I would like to recognize Drs. Roland Roy, Niranjala Tilakaratne and Jung Kim for their amazing work.”

“The Popular Mechanics Breakthrough Award is a great honor,” Gerasimenko said. “In the studies performed on Rob, we accumulated our knowledge about posture and locomotion regulation obtained in numerous experiments carried out on animals, using of epidural spinal cord stimulation. I am really happy that we demonstrated that the human spinal cord isolated from brain control can be re-animated by epidural spinal cord stimulation to recovery of locomotor functions and to provide voluntary control.”

Turns cell phone into powerful microscope.

A groundbreaking imaging technology developed by UCLA engineering professor Aydogan Ozcan that can turn a simple cell phone into a powerful microscope has been named the top innovation of 2011 by The Scientist, a magazine focusing on the life sciences, research and technology. Ozcan’s compact, lightweight and inexpensive microscope has the potential to bring better health care and monitoring to impoverished and underserved areas of the globe.

The technology, known as LUCAS (Ultra–wide-field Cell monitoring Array platform based on Shadow imaging), was ranked No. 1 among a field of more than 65 entries judged by the magazine as part of its annual “Top 10 Innovations” contest. Other winners in the top 10 included a new high-powered DNA sequencer, a mini-MRI system, a watch-like device that measures the body’s circadian rhythm, and a first-of-its-kind 360-degree optical imager.

Ozcan’s LUCAS is an easy-to-use, pocket-sized holographic microscope that weighs less than 50 grams, uses off-the-shelf parts and costs as little as $10. It can be attached to a cell phone’s camera, and blood and saliva samples can then be loaded onto chips that slide into the side of the microscope. The technology can be used to monitor diseases like HIV and malaria and to test water quality in the field after a major disaster.

Algorithms developed by Ozcan’s research group instantly identify and count red and white blood cells and microparticles in the fluid samples, a time-consuming process typically performed by trained technicians. The image results can be sent by the cell phone to centralized hospitals for analysis by health care professionals.

“We have more than 5 billion cell phone subscribers around the world today, and because of this, cell phones can now play a central role in telemedicine applications,” said Ozcan, an associate professor of electrical engineering and bioengineering at UCLA’s Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science and a member of the California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA. “Our research group has already created a very nice set of tools that can potentially replace most of the advanced instruments used currently in laboratories.”

Ozcan has garnered a great deal of media attention and professional recognition in recent years for his work on lensless computational microscopy. He’s been honored with a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, a National Science Foundation CAREER Award, a National Institutes of Health Director’s New Innovator Award, and Office of Naval Research and Army Research Office Young Investigator awards, among others.

The lensless imaging platform behind the cell phone microscope is already undergoing real-world trials. Field tests of the cell phone microscope began in Africa last summer using funds received from three major awards. Next year, Karin Nielsen, an infectious diseases pediatrician at UCLA, will take the portable microscope into the fields of the Amazon to test its ability to diagnose malaria, anemia, low white blood-cell count and intestinal parasites.

For more on Ozcan’s research, visit http://innovate.ee.ucla.edu.

UC Riverside’s Howard Friedman, known for pioneering work in health psychology, honored by Beckman Trust.

Howard Friedman, UC Riverside

Howard Friedman, distinguished professor of psychology at the University of California, Riverside, has won a $25,000 award from the Elizabeth Hurlock Beckman Award Trust for inspiring students to make a difference in the community.

Friedman is one of 15 professors from U.S. universities recognized by the trust for inspiring students to action that benefits society. He is the first University of California scholar honored since the awards began two years ago. The recipients will be honored in a ceremony on Saturday (Jan. 7) at the Carter Center in Atlanta.

“It’s very rewarding to see students getting inspired and putting ideas into practice in medicine, public health and health psychology. What’s better for a scholar than to change a field or help get a movement going?” said the researcher who is a pioneer in the field of health psychology. “As a professor, my greatest satisfaction has always come from my students.”

Friedman, who has won four awards for teaching excellence while at UC Riverside, spent more than 20 years identifying predictors of health and long life among 1,500 individuals who were part of a study started by Stanford University psychologist Louis Terman in 1921. The study began when the participants were 10 years old and followed them throughout their lives.

More than two decades ago, Friedman and co-researcher Leslie Martin (then a UC Riverside graduate student), as well as many other UC Riverside graduate and undergraduate students on his research teams, began examining and supplementing the data. They determined that personality characteristics and social relations from childhood can predict one’s risk of dying decades later. It was the most prudent and persistent individuals who stayed healthier and lived longer. Their overall conclusions are reported in the book “The Longevity Project: Surprising Discoveries for Health and Long Life from the Landmark Eight-Decade Study” (Hudson Street Press).

Friedman’s research has profoundly affected two generations of students who have since become physicians, public health workers, psychologists and health psychology researchers. “I work with a lot of students in UCR’s biomedical and pre-medical programs,” he said. “They use the findings of health psychology research in the practice of medicine. And my wonderful graduate students have gone on to teach and spread the word to countless other students.”

“These outstanding faculty members have inspired their former students to change the world. The trust recognizes the benefits of what an extraordinary professor can produce,” said Carol Goodheart, Beckman Trust Committee member and past president of the American Psychological Association. “We learn how remarkably professors have motivated their students, and see how students have created a real-world success because of this inspiration.”

The trust, which is administered by the Wells Fargo Philanthropic Services group, was founded in 2008 under the will of Gail McKnight Beckman in honor of her mother, Elizabeth Hurlock Beckman, an educator, renowned author and pioneer in the field of psychology. She was one of the first female psychology professors at Columbia University and later taught at the University of Pennsylvania.

The other recipients this year are from Harvard University, the University of Miami, the Graduate Center at City University of New York, University of Arizona, Boston College, University of Washington, Towson University, University of Rochester, Georgia State University, Columbia University, Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, Palo Alto University and University of Wisconsin-Madison.

UC San Diego’s William Mobley is acknowledged by Congress, honored with prize in Paris.

William Mobley, UC San Diego

William C. Mobley, M.D., Ph.D., chair of the Department of Neurosciences at the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine and chairman of the U.S. Scientific Advisory Committee of the Jérôme Lejeune Foundation, was recognized by U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions from the floor of the House of Representatives in December. Sessions said of Mobley — who received the International Sisley-Jérôme Lejeune Prize in a ceremony at the Museum of Medical History in Paris on Dec. 8 — “Dr. Mobley’s many contributions in the field of Down syndrome have been truly valued in the special needs community. His research to identify causes of neurodegenerative disorders has brought new optimism to those afflicted with diseases, from Alzheimer’s to Down syndrome.”

The International Sisley-Jérôme Lejeune award was given to Mobley in recognition of his ambitious and innovative research into treatments for neurological disabilities, in particular Down syndrome. In his acceptance speech, Mobley commented that “Today, we have not yet developed an effective treatment, but our work shows that it will soon be possible.”

“His commitment and expertise in this area are a guarantee of excellence for the foundation,” said Jean-Marc Guilloux, executive director of the U.S. Jérôme Lejeune Foundation. “We are honored that a researcher of Dr. Mobley’s stature has agreed to assist us at this critical stage of launching this new initiative in the United States on behalf of those with genetic intellectual disabilities.” Mobley will be joined on the U.S. Scientific Advisory Committee by Dr. Randi Hagerman, professor of the MIND Institute at the University of California, Davis, and a research specialist in Fragile X syndrome, and by David Patterson, professor at the University of Denver, a researcher in the fields of Down syndrome and autism.

The International Sisley-Jérôme Lejeune Prize carries a cash award and is made possible by a generous grant of the Sisley Foundation, Paris.

The Jérôme Lejeune Foundation (Paris/U.S.) was founded in 1996 and is the world’s largest private funder of Down syndrome research, providing some $21 million worldwide. In 2010 alone the foundation invested $4 million in research, and funded more than 60 research projects which together are breaking new ground in both the understanding and management of Down syndrome, fragile X syndrome and other intellectual disabilities of genetic origin. The foundation’s mission is based upon three closely joined pillars of activity: research, care, and advocacy, all carried out in a spirit of profound respect for the dignity of all human persons.

Jan Nolta also directs the UC Davis Institute for Regenerative Cures.

Jan Nolta, UC Davis

Stem Cells, the premier peer-reviewed journal in the field of stem cells and regenerative medicine, has promoted Jan A. Nolta to editor.

Nolta, one of the nation’s leading researchers in regenerative medicine, directs the UC Davis Institute for Regenerative Cures, a facility supported by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. In addition to conducting groundbreaking research in human stem cells, she oversees the university’s stem cell program, which includes more than 150 faculty scientists and clinicians on the Davis and Sacramento campuses.

“There has never been such an exciting time to be a scientist in the field of stem cell research,” said Nolta, who is a professor of internal medicine. ”The tools and techniques that we now have are unprecedented and allow us to probe the biology of stem cells in entirely new ways. I look forward to tackling my new role with both a zeal and deep respect for the global scientific community.”

Nolta joined UC Davis in 2006 after serving for four years as scientific director of the cell and gene therapy Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) facility at Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis. Her translational research has focused on developing improved stem cell therapies for treating neurodegenerative diseases, including Huntington’s and Parkinson’s disease, immunodeficiencies, lysosomal storage diseases and peripheral vascular disease.

Nolta has had more than 20 years experience in the stem cell field. She has published more than 100 peer-reviewed manuscripts in the field of regenerative medicine and has authored 25 book chapters and numerous invited papers. She was author and editor of the book, “Genetic Engineering of Mesenchymal Stem Cells.” She has served on more than 75 National Institutes of Health grant review panels and has been editor and editorial board member on six scientific journals.

Nolta also serves as the scientific director of the UC Davis GMP facility, which is located within the institute building in Sacramento. The custom-built cleanroom facility is one of the largest academic GMP laboratories in the nation and enables researchers to test and safely produce stem cell therapies for clinical trials. Her ultimate goal is to help teams develop more effective regenerative medicine therapies for patients who currently have few options.

Nolta had served as an associate editor at Stem Cells since 2008. She begins her new editorial responsibilities as the journal celebrates its 30th anniversary.

Peter Walter awarded €100,000 Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize.

Peter Walter, UC San Francisco

Peter Walter, Ph.D., a professor in the Biochemistry and Biophysics Department within the School of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco has been awarded the 2012 Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize for his “outstanding research achievements in the field of cell biology.”

The €100,000 German award specifically recognizes Walter’s work over the last two decades on how cells cope with stress—insight that has profound implications for understanding and treating numerous human diseases, including cancer, diabetes, cystic fibrosis and neurodegenerative disorders.

The prize will be awarded in a ceremony in St. Paul’s Church in Frankfurt on March 14, the birthday of immunologist Paul Ehrlich (1854-1915), a German scientist who was a towering figure in medicine at the beginning of the 20th century.

“This prize is one of the top international awards given every year for medical research, and it is a wonderful recognition of Dr. Walter’s work,” said Sam Hawgood, dean of the UCSF School of Medicine. “His research captures the best this field has to offer—fundamental science revealing life’s mysteries at its smallest scale and with huge implications for human health worldwide.”

Past recipients have included Walter’s UCSF colleagues Elizabeth Blackburn, Ph.D., who won the prize in 2009, and Stanley Prusiner, M.D., who won the award in 1995. Both Blackburn and Prusiner also won the Nobel Prize for their work.

Over the last 18 years, Walter and his colleagues have investigated an intracellular process known as the unfolded protein response, which multicelled organisms use to deal with stress and avoid poisoning their own tissues.

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