Top Scientists to Receive Prestigious Awards From the American Society of ...( ATLANTA Dec. 5 -- The American S...),Health

ATLANTA, Dec. 5 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American Society of Hematology (ASH), the world's largest professional society of blood specialists, is honoring three scientists who have made notable contributions to the genetic understanding of disease. Carlo Croce, MD, will receive the Henry M. Stratton Medal, intended to honor an individual with a distinguished career in hematology, and William P. Vainchenker, MD, PhD, will receive the William Dameshek Prize, awarded to an individual who has made a recent and outstanding contribution to the field. In addition, Ernest Beutler, MD, will be the first recipient of the new Wallace H. Coulter Award for Lifetime Achievement in Hematology, bestowed on an individual who has made a lifelong commitment to the specialty, and whose contributions have had a significant impact on education, research, and/or practice. These awards, named after important figures in the Society's history, will be awarded during the 49th ASH Annual Meeting in December at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta.

"The discoveries made by Drs. Croce, Vainchenker, and Beutler have altered the paradigm of medical thinking not only in hematology, but many other fields as well, and impacted the lives of many patients for the better," said ASH President Andrew Schafer, MD, of the New York Presbyterian-Weill Cornell Medical Center. "It is my honor to recognize these outstanding individuals for their achievements."

With his discovery of the workings of the MYC oncogene in Burkitt lymphoma, Dr. Croce was one of the first to make a case for the genetic basis of cancer. A prolific researcher, he later identified several other genes and their mechanisms of action responsible for the pathogenesis of lymphoma, leukemia, and many other cancers. Dr. Croce is currently Professor and Chairman of the Department of Molecular Virology, Immunology, and Medical Genetics and Director of the Human Cancer Genetics Program at The Ohio State Univers
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