|
|
PIONEERS OF NEUROSCIENCE AND EDUCATION HONORED WITH TWELFTH ANNUAL CHARLES A. DANA AWARDS Senator Ted Stevens Cited for Distinguished Achievement in Support of Neuroscience
NEW YORK, October 6, 1997 -- Two scientists who have revealed fundamental mechanisms of brain function to advance the development of novel treatments for brain disorders, and the co-founder of a program that uses the lessons of the Holocaust and other historical tragedies to promote moral thinking and tolerance among today's students, have earned the Twelfth Annual Charles A. Dana Awards for Pioneering Achievements in Health and Education, respectively. These awards each carry a $50,000 cash prize, and honor outstanding accomplishments that hold great potential for fostering positive change in health and education.
Senator Stevens (R-AK) will receive the Charles A. Dana Distinguished Achievement Award. Senator Stevens, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, will be honored for his accomplishments in championing legislative policy and funding for scientific research and development. Senator Stevens has been a strong supporter of Title IX legislation of the Civil Rights Act that prohibits sex discrimination in education, and continues to urge support for funding in such areas as prostate cancer and fetal alcohol syndrome.
The Dana Award in Health honors Paul Greengard, Ph.D., and Eric R. Kandel, M.D., for their separate work in elucidating the cellular and molecular mechanisms that underlie the day-to-day functioning of the nervous system, and for pioneering major new branches of neuroscientific research. Dr. Greengard, a preeminent neurophysiologist, is a named professor and head of the Laboratory of Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience at The Rockefeller University in New York. Dr. Kandel, University Professor at Columbia University and senior investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, is an internationally recognized neurobiologist.
As a graduate student in the late 1940s, Dr. Greengard tackled a research question that other scientists had avoided asking because of its overwhelming complexity: how neurotransmitters, the brain's chemical messengers, produced their effects on nerve cells. He devoted nearly 50 years to unraveling the answer and, in the process, transformed scientific understanding of the biochemical mechanisms by which nerve cells communicate with one another. His work has direct applications to schizophrenia and Parkinson's disease, two devastating brain disorders that affect millions of Americans, and has laid the groundwork for the development of effective new treatments for these conditions.
Dr. Kandel, working initially with a marine snail called Aplysia and later with genetically modified mice, was the first scientist to study the question of how learning and memory occur from a cellular and molecular perspective. In a series of landmark discoveries over three decades, he has revolutionized our knowledge of the brain systems underlying short and long term memory storage. Using the accumulated data of his research, he is now pursuing an approach to treat age-related memory loss.
Margot Stern Strom, executive director and president of the Facing History and Ourselves National Foundation, has devoted her career to uncloaking the tragedies and failures of history in order to promote moral thinking, social justice, and racial tolerance among today's youth. The Facing History curriculum uses the lessons of the Holocaust and other historical examples of genocide to help students make the connection between history and the moral choices they confront in their own lives. Begun with a federal grant in 1976, Facing History and Ourselves has since grown into a global educational and professional development organization reaching more than 900,000 middle and high school students annually. More than 21,000 teachers have participated in the Facing History curriculum.
"The 1997 Dana Award winners are true innovators," says David Mahoney, chairman of the Charles A. Dana Foundation. " Eric Kandel and Paul Greengard made enormous contributions to research in the areas of learning and memory--which have long-term implications for understanding how the brain works. Ms. Strom's work is bringing a better understanding to students nationwide of the consequences of prejudice and the value of social action. Senator Stevens is a distinguished statesman, and has been a constant voice of reason and support for science and technology research. His vision has benefited us all."
Mr. Mahoney will present the awards to the honorees at a gala dinner reception at the Plaza Hotel in New York on November 5. The winners will discuss their award-winning work at separate symposia in health and education earlier that day.
The Dana Awards were initiated in 1986 as a means of recognizing outstanding innovation in health and education. Winners are selected by a jury of nationally recognized experts, following recommendations by separate nominating committees in health and education.
The Dana Foundation was established in 1950 by Charles A. Dana, a New York State legislator and industrialist who deeply believed that philanthropy could play a crucial role in helping individuals improve the overall health and welfare of society.
|
|
|