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University of Washington School of Medicine
Online News
Vol. 11, No. 38
Sept. 28, 2007
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To view an archived version of Online News on the UW
Medicine Web site, visit:
http://www.uwmedicine.org/Global/NewsAndEvents/somnews/index.htm
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This week’s news:
* The late Joseph Eschbach honored with endowed chair in kidney research, established with grant from Northwest Kidney Centers and Kirin-Amgen
* UW researchers Mark Roth and Yoky Matsuoka honored as MacArthur Fellows; "Genius" awards include $500,000 prize
* UW hosting international conference on the future of male contraception
* Philip Green to be honored Oct. 10 with UW Inventor of the Year award
* Fourth-year medical student Derek Jackson named a 2007 Pisacano Scholar in Family Medicine
* Barbara Goff honored with Ladies' Home Journal Health Breakthrough Award
* UW Medicine participating in Puget Sound Heart Walk Oct. 6
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JOSEPH ESCHBACH HONORED WITH ENDOWED CHAIR IN KIDNEY RESEARCH
Northwest Kidney Centers, a Seattle-based not-for-profit organization, and Kirin-Amgen, a California-based biotechnology joint venture, have given an honorary gift to the UW to establish the Joseph W. Eschbach Endowed Chair in Kidney Research. The chair is based in the Division of Nephrology in the Department of Medicine.
The gift is made in recognition of the late Joseph Eschbach, a nephrologist and UW clinical professor. Eschbach died Sept. 7 of lung cancer. Through his exemplary clinical care, home dialysis program leadership, scholarly activity, groundbreaking research in anemia management, and leadership of the Northwest Kidney Centers, Eschbach changed the face of kidney care throughout the region and around the world.
Eschbach, who was senior research advisor at Northwest Kidney Centers and clinical professor emeritus of medicine at the UW, spent his 45-year career at the Northwest Kidney Centers, the UW, and Minor and James Clinic. In the 1970s, Eschbach and former UW faculty member John Adamson sought to understand the physiology of treating severe anemia in advanced kidney disease. They showed that in an animal model of dialysis-dependent kidney disease, replacement of erythropoietin would stimulate red blood cell production.
In the mid-1980s, Eschbach led successful clinical trials to treat anemia in kidney dialysis patients. This research played a pivotal role in Amgen's development of the drug Epogen. Eschbach treated patients with Epogen at Northwest Kidney Centers in the world’s first clinical trials of the drug.
Eschbach was the recipient of the David Hume Memorial Award of the National Kidney Foundation and the International Society of Nephrology Amgen International Prize. He was an elected member of the Institute of Medicine and an emeritus board member of the Northwest Kidney Centers.
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TWO UW FACULTY MEMBERS RECEIVE MACARTHUR GENIUS AWARDS
Two UW faculty members were honored this week as MacArthur Fellows, joining a group of 24 people around the world honored by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The $500,000 no-strings-attached prizes are often referred to as the "genius" awards.
Mark Roth, a cell biologist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and a UW affiliate professor of biochemistry, is one of the recipients. Roth, a member of the Hutchinson center's Basic Sciences Division, is experimenting with inducing hibernation to provide more response time for medical treatments.
Yoky Matsuoka, UW associate professor of computer science and engineering, also received a MacArthur fellowship. Matsuoka studies prosthetic devices, relying on a combination of robotics and neuroscience research. Her work is aimed at using robotics to help people who are disabled or have limited mobility.
For more information about the two UW MacArthur Fellows or any of the other recipients from this year, visit the foundation's Web site:
http://www.macfound.org/
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UW DEPARTMENT OF MEDICINE HOSTS MALE CONTRACEPTION CONFERENCE
William J. Bremner, chair of the UW Department of Medicine, is local host of The Future of Male Contraception, an international conference co-sponsored by the UW on Sept. 27 and 28 at the Edgewater Hotel in Seattle. The conference is also sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, the World Health Organization, and CONRAD (Contraceptive Research and Development Program, an international consortium).
More than 140 participants from around the world are gathering to address the latest developments in research and trials of contraceptives for men. Experts will present updates on technological studies, promising new approaches and agents, and clinical studies of male contraceptives, including the Intra Vas Device, a set of tiny implants that block the flow of sperm.
Bremner, who holds the Robert G. Petersdorf Endowed Chair in Medicine, is director of the Male Contraception Research Center at UW, one of four such centers in the nation devoted to expediting development of new approaches to regulating fertility. The center is part of the national Cooperative Contraceptive Research Centers Program (CCRCP), funded by the Contraception and Reproductive Health Branch of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
Other UW participants in this week's conference include David Amory, John Amory, Bradley Anawalt, Donner Babcock, Robert Braun, Anne Carlson, Mara Lang, Alvin Matsumoto, Daniel Morgan, Charles Muller, Stephanie Page, C. Alvin Paulsen, Connie Pete, Sonya Schuh-Huerta, Manju Sharma, Christin Snyder, and Kathy Winter, as well as Michael Griswold and Qing Zhou of WSU.
For more information, visit the conference Web site at:
http://www.futureofmalecontraception.com/
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PHILIP GREEN AWARDED UW MEDICINE INVENTOR OF THE YEAR
Philip Green, UW professor of genome sciences and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, has been selected as the 2007 UW Medicine Inventor of the Year. He will be honored at a reception scheduled for 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 10, at the Seattle Asian Art Museum, where he will receive the award and a check for $10,000.
Green’s achievements include the development of software programs and analysis techniques important to the success of the Human Genome Project. Green worked with UW TechTransfer, and his technologies -- Pfred, Pfrap and Consed -- have generated more than $6 million in revenue. The technologies are considered industry standards and are used by more than 250 companies and thousands of academic researchers worldwide.
Green is also an adjunct professor of computer science and engineering. In 2005, Green was elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In 2002, he received the Gairdner Award, which recognizes outstanding contributions by medical scientists whose work will significantly improve the quality of life.
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JACKSON NAMED PISACANO SCHOLAR
Derek Jackson, a fourth-year medical student from Meridian, Idaho, has been named a 2007 Pisacano Scholar in Family Medicine by the Pisacano Leadership Foundation. The Foundation is a philanthropic arm of the American Board of Family Medicine.
Jackson was selected for this scholarship because of his leadership skills, academic achievements, his service to the community, and his desire to become a family physician. After finishing his medical training, Jackson hopes to return to Idaho to serve diverse rural populations and Latino communities.
Jackson was the first UW medical student to participate in a program at a medical school in Guanajuato, Mexico, where he received several weeks of obstetrical training in an underserved community hospital. In Idaho, Jackson initiated a project to offer information on safe sex to Latino men, and to assess local outreach programs to prevent sexually transmitted diseases. He presented his results at the Western Student Medical Research Forum in 2006, and to social workers and physicians in Idaho.
The Pisacano Leadership Foundation was created in 1990 by the American Board of Family Medicine in tribute to its founder, Nicholas J. Pisacano. The Pisacano scholarship program provides educational opportunities, leadership training, and funding for medical students who have been identified as future leaders in family medicine.
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BARBARA GOFF RECOGNIZED WITH HEALTH BREAKTHROUGH AWARD
An article that appeared in last week's School of Medicine Online News noted that Constance Lehman, UW professor of radiology, had been honored with a Ladies' Home Journal Health Breakthrough Award. The article inadvertently neglected to mention that Barbara Goff, UW professor of obstetrics and gynecology, also received the Ladies' Home Journal award this year.
Goff, the director of gynecologic oncology at the UW, studies ovarian cancer and its diagnosis. Ovarian cancer has traditionally been viewed as a silent disease, offering little warning to women before onset. Goff and her colleagues, however, have found that many women in the early stages of the disease suffer from symptoms such as abdominal bloating, pelvic or abdominal pain, and frequent urination. The findings are especially important for ovarian cancer, since early detection can help make the deadly disease more survivable.
To read the article about Goff, Lehman, and other recipients of the magazine's Health Breakthrough Awards, visit:
http://tinyurl.com/28g4r5
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UW MEDICINE PARTICIPATING IN PUGET SOUND HEART WALK OCT. 6
The Puget Sound Heart Walk, a fund-raiser for the American Heart Association, will be held Saturday, Oct. 6, at Qwest Field in Seattle. UW Medicine is a major supporter of the event, and has set goals of signing up 75 teams with 650 participants and of raising $75,000. So far, UW Medicine has 37 teams, 245 participants, and pledged donations of $13,760.
UW Medicine faculty and staff are encouraged to register for the walk and help raise money for the Heart Association. When registering, be sure to select UW Medicine -- Regional Heart Center from the list of companies participating. The association provides tools and tips for online fund raising, and people can participate and raise funds even if they are unable to attend the walk on Oct. 6.
For more information, to make a donation, or to register for the Heart Walk, visit:
http://www.pugetsoundheartwalk.kintera.org
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Justin Reedy, editor:
206-685-0382, jreedy@u.washington.edu
Online News is copyright 2007. All rights, including electronic
redistribution, are reserved.
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