         
|
|
|
|
1st appeared
29
June 2000
Foundation Awards Blackburn Elizabeth H. Blackburn, PhD, a pioneer in the discovery of telomerase and its role in cancer and aging, was one of four scientists named by the Steven and Michele Kirsch Foundation to receive its first-ever Medical Investigator Awards. The researchers will receive $450,000 each over the next three years to fund their research activities. Their institutions will each receive $90,000 over the same period. The foundation’s inaugural program will commit $2 million for medical research. "We are particularly interested in sponsoring individuals who are engaged in innovative research," said Steve Kirsch, the Foundation's Chairman of the Board, and CEO and founder of Propel. "We focus our funding on curing diseases, rather than treatments. These recipients have the same passion." In addition to Blackburn, the other Kirsch medical investigators are: Ben A. Barres, MD, PhD, Stanford University School of Medicine; Ronald A. DePinho, MD, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School; and Alexander J. Varshavsky, PhD, California Institute of Technology. Blackburn, UCSF professor of microbiology and immunology and biochemistry and biophysics, is renowned for her research on telomeres (the ends of human chromosomes), which need the right DNA sequence in order to allow all cells, including cancer cells, to multiply, and telomerase (the enzyme that makes telomeric DNA), which is highly active in most tumors. By manipulating telomerase activity, potential therapeutic uses, such as the treatment of cancer, can be uncovered. The Kirsch Foundation is committed to an extensive array of issues, including curing cancer and other major disease, environmental causes, campaign finance reform and nuclear disarmament. About half of the foundation’s grants go to medical and scientific research. Links: Kirsch Foundation press release Cancer Research Group Honors Blackburn Telomerase Finding Suggests New Target for Extending Cell's Life Span Blackburn Finds Promise of Cancer Cure at the Cellular Level |
||
|
DAYBREAK | ARCHIVES
| CALENDAR
| CAMPUS NOTES Copyright ©2000 Regents
of the University of California. All rights reserved. |
||
