Awards, Feb 07, 2002

The following awards have been presented for achievement in leadership, management, research, and volunteerism:

Higher education. The Council of Independent Colleges (Washington) has presented its 2002 Allen P. Splete Award for Outstanding Service to Patricia Willis, president of the BellSouth Foundation (Atlanta). The 2002 Award of Philanthropy went to John T. and Constance Vucurevich of Rapid City, S.D., philanthropists who have supported colleges, universities, and other area agencies and charities.

Leadership. United Way of America (Alexandria, Va.) has presented its 2001 John H. Garber Jr. Minority Development Award to William Garcia, a database analyst at the United Way of the Central Carolinas (Charlotte, N.C.). Mr. Garcia was recognized for his leadership and community-development roles during the last seven years, as a community-investment manager, a campaign associate, and a computer-operations associate, and for facilitating better communication between the United Way and Hispanic communities as a volunteer.

Medical research. The Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharmaceutical Research Institute (Princeton, N.J.) has presented Distinguished Achievement Awards, provided through its Unrestricted Biomedical Research Grants Program, which gives “no strings attached” funding in the following six fields. Each recipient will receive a $50,000 cash award and a silver medallion.

— Cancer research. V. Craig Jordan for research that laid the foundation for the clinical use of anti-estrogens and selective estrogen receptor modulators. Dr. Jordan is a professor and director of the cancer-research program at the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center (Chicago) and a professor of molecular pharmacology and biological chemistry at Northwestern U. Medical School (Chicago).

— Cardiovascular research. Michael A. Gimbrone Jr. for contributions to understanding the role of vascular endothelium in health and disease. Dr. Gimbrone is chairman of the department of pathology and director of the Center for Excellence in Vascular Biology at Harvard Medical School’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital (Boston).

— Infectious disease research. Jean-Marie Ghuysen, professor emeritus and scientific adviser at the Centre of Protein Engineering at the U. of Liège (Belgium), for describing the complex structure and function of the bacterial cell wall.

— Metabolic research. Jeffrey M. Friedman for research explaining the mechanisms by which body weight and fat stores are regulated. Dr. Friedman is a professor and director of the Starr Center for Human Genetics at Rockefeller U. (New York) and an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (Chevy Chase, Md.).

— Neuroscience research. H. Robert Horvitz, for his discovery that specific genes control programmed cell death, or apoptosis. Dr. Horvitz is a professor of biology at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the McGovern Institute for Brain Research (Cambridge), a neurobiologist and geneticist at Massachusetts General Hospital (Boston), and an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (Chevy Chase, Md.).

— Nutrition research. Alfred Sommer for his contributions to the understanding of the origin, magnitude, and control of nutritional blindness. Dr. Sommer is dean and a professor of epidemiology and international health at Johns Hopkins U.’s Bloomberg School of Public Health (Baltimore) and a professor of ophthalmology at the Wilmer Institute in Johns Hopkins U.’s School of Medicine (Baltimore).

Public health. The Pan American Health Organization (Washington) has named its Public Health Heroes of the Americas, individuals who have made exceptional contributions to public health in the Western Hemisphere: Carlos Canseco of Mexico, an allergy specialist; Jacinto Convit of Venezuela, an expert in leprosy and tropical diseases; Mirna Cunningham of Nicaragua, rector of the U. of the Autonomous Regions of the Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua and executive secretary of the Inter American Indian Institute in Mexico; Donald A. Henderson of the United States, director of the Center for Civilian Biodefense Studies at the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health; José Jordan of Cuba, a pediatrician and expert in nutrition, growth, and development; Marc Lalonde of Canada, a lawyer who served as minister of health and warfare; Edgar Mohs of Costa Rica, former vice minister and minister of health for Costa Rica and general director of the National Hospital for Children; Elsa Moreno of Argentina, an expert in maternal and child health; Zilda Arns Newmann of Brazil, a pediatrician, public-health worker, and founder and director of the Pastoral da Crianca, a ministry devoted to child health and nutrition; Ruth Puffer of the United States, a biostatistician and public-health professional; and Kenneth Livingston Standard of Jamaica, founding president of the Caribbean Public Health Association.

Violence prevention. Youth Alive (Oakland, Calif.) has received the 2001 Norman Cousins Award from the Fetzer Institute (Kalamazoo, Mich.) for its violence-prevention program, Caught in the Crossfire, a collaborative hospital and community effort to provide mentor services to youths who are involved in gun violence and to their families. The award includes a $25,000 prize to support Caught in the Crossfire.