Milestones

UPDATES

The Lambright Medical Research Foundation, represented by Jim, '65, and Lynne Lambright, donated $200,000 to the UW School of Medicine in January to support research on Niemann-Pick Type C disease. Jim Lambright was the Husky football coach from 1993-98; two grown sons of his wife, Lynne, have the rare disease. Niemann-Pick C disease is an inherited neurological disorder caused by a recessive gene. Individuals with the disease are unable to metabolize cholesterol, which accumulates in the liver, spleen and brain, causing progressive deterioration of the nervous system. For a review of Lambright's career, see "Sudden Impact," March 1999.

The Washington Supreme Court is scheduled to award honorary membership in the Washington State Bar posthumously to Takuji Yamashita, a 1902 UW law school graduate who was prevented from practicing law because of his Japanese nationality. The ceremony, to be held March 1 in Olympia, is part of a series of events commemorating the 100th anniversary of the UW School of Law. See "A Civil Action," December 2000.

HONORS

Pharmacology Chair William A. Catterall and Medical Affairs Vice President/Medical School Dean Paul G. Ramsey have been elected to the Institute of Medicine, a division of the National Academy of Sciences, the organization announced Oct. 16. Catterall, who has been chair of pharmacology since 1984, is a world renowned scientist whose research deals with the electrical signaling mechanisms of nerve and muscle cells. Ramsey has a special interest in infectious diseases and is a nationally regarded expert on methods to assess physicians' clinical performance. As vice president and dean, Ramsey provides leadership for one of the nation's top medical schools and has overall responsibility for the UW's two teaching hospitals and associated clinics. Catterall and Ramsey join 37 other UW faculty members previously elected to the institute.

The 2000 Massry Prize was awarded to UW Genetics Professor Lee Hartwell on Nov. 18. The $40,000 award honors outstanding contributions to the biomedical sciences. The centerpiece of Hartwell's work is learning when and why the cell cycle goes awry-often leading to the uncontrolled growth that is characteristic of cancer. He has identified more than 50 genes that are crucial to controlling the instructions a cell uses to grow, rest and divide. Hartwell joined the UW faculty in 1968 and has been a professor of genetics since 1973. He is also president and director of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. The Massry Prize is given each year by the Meira and Shaul G. Massry Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting education and research in nephrology, physiology and related fields.

The UW-based Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement program (MESA) was one of 10 organizations to receive the 2000 Presidential Mentoring Award, the White House announced Sept. 7. MESA was formally created in 1982 at the UW to attack the dramatic drop-off in mathematics and science learning among middle and high school students, particularly girls and members of underrepresented ethnic groups. In 1999, more than 4,100 students participated in MESA programs and 94 percent of high school seniors in the program went on to college-with 68 percent in math, science or engineering. MESA Statewide Director Patricia MacGowan oversees the program, which is also sponsored by WSU, Gonzaga University and Pacific Lutheran University.

UW Genome Center Director Maynard Olson was one of three scientists who received the annual City of Medicine Award Oct. 5. The citation praises Olson, one of the architects of the Human Genome Project, for his efforts that made the project possible. President Bill Clinton's recent announcement that scientists have determined the genetic blueprint for human beings took the world by storm. Without Olson's 1987 development of an artificial chromosome cloning system for yeast and his introduction of sequenced tagged sites in 1990, this historic achievement would not have been possible. Organizers in Durham, N.C., established the international award program in 1988 to recognize extraordinary contributions to medicine in the public interest. Other recipients are Stanford Professor Hugh McDevitt and Johns Hopkins Professor Solomon Snyder.

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