Warren honored by March of Dimes

Photo credit: Emory University

Stephen T. Warren, the William Patterson Timmie professor of human genetics and Charles Howard Candler chairman of the department of human genetics as well as professor of biochemistry and pediatrics at Emory University School of Medicine, will receive the March of Dimes/Colonel Harland Sanders Award for Lifetime Achievement in the field of genetic sciences.

Established in 1986, the March of Dimes/Colonel Harland Sanders Award is given annually to an individual whose lifetime body of research and education has made a significant contribution to the genetic sciences.

Warren is a world-renowned researcher who identified the long-sought genetic abnormality responsible fragile X syndrome. This disorder is an inherited genetic condition that involves changes in the X chromosome and specifically the FMR1 gene. It is the leading cause of inherited intellectual disability.  

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Wilchek awarded Israel Chemical Society medal 

Meir Wilchek, a professor at the Weizmann Institute of Science, was awarded the Israel Chemical Society Medal. He shares the award, which is the society’s highest honor, with Eli Hurvitz, an industrialist who transformed Teva into Israel’s largest company and a world leader in producing generic drugs.

Wilchek is best known for developing the modern concept of affinity between biological molecules. In 1968 he and his colleagues created a method for affinity chromatography, which revolutionized the isolation of biochemical materials and opened the door to new opportunities in biology, biotechnology, chemistry, nanotechnology, physics and many other fields. This method has contributed to many developments in the life sciences and medicine.

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