UW News

July 25, 2002

Health Sciences News Briefs

The nursing shortage in Washington state will be the subject of a legislative meeting at the Health Sciences Center next week. The state’s Senate Higher Education and Health & Long-Term Care committees will meet at 1:30 p.m., Monday, July 29, in room T-625, HSC. Nurses, health-care facility administrators, educators and representatives of state agencies will address legislators on issues related to the nursing shortage and ways to remedy it. For more information, contact the committee assistant at 360-786-7420.



Dr. Ken Walsh, professor emeritus of biochemistry, will be a recipient of the 2002 Pehr Edman Award, given to individuals who have significantly advanced the fields of protein chemistry, protein structure analysis, or proteomics. Walsh’s work improved strategies for automated sequencing of proteins and for identifying post-translational modifications.

Walsh was among the first to realize the power of mass spectrometry techniques for protein characterization. Recently he developed a method for direct sequence analysis of proteins by using in-source fragmentation. The Pehr Edman Award commemorates a Swedish chemist who helped develop the chemistry for sequencing proteins. Walsh will receive the award in September in Valencia, Spain, during the Methods in Protein Structure Analysis 2002 meeting sponsored by the International Association for Protein Structure Analysis and Proteomics.



Dr. Leroy Hood, affiliate professor of bioengineering, immunology and computer science, will receive the 2002 Kyoto Prize in Advanced Technology. The award recognizes Hood’s outstanding achievements in biotechnology and medical technology and his contributions to improving the human condition. Hood is being honored for his work on four automated instruments for sequencing and synthesizing DNA and proteins.

The Inamori Foundation, which created the Kyoto Prize, is a not-for-profit organization established in 1984 by Kazuo Inamori, founder and chair emeritus of Kyocera Corporation. Each year the Foundation gives prizes in Advanced Technology, Basic Sciences, and Arts & Philosophy. The Kyoto Prize consists of a diploma, a gold medal, and a cash gift of 50 million yen (approximately $410,000).



Dr. Daniel Porte, UW professor emeritus of medicine, will receive a 2002 Novartis Award in Diabetes for Long-Standing Achievement. The award recognizes his exceptional and sustained achievements in diabetes research. He came to the UW in 1963 as an advanced research fellow under Dr. Robert H. Williams, an endocrinologist and founding chair of the Department of Medicine. From 1971 to 1999, Porte was director of Research and Development for Veterans Affairs Puget Sound Health Care System. From 1977 to 1996, he directed the UW’s Diabetes Endocrinology Research Center. Porte moved to California, where he is now a professor emeritus of medicine at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine.



Dr. George H. Kraft, professor of rehabilitation medicine and adjunct professor of neurology, will receive the 2002 Frank H. Krusen Award in November from the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. The award will be presented in Orlando, Fla., during the Academy’s annual meeting. Recipients are selected for their outstanding contributions to physical medicine and rehabilitation in the areas of patient care, research, education, literary contributions, community service, and involvement in the Academy. Kraft is known for helping improve the lives of people with multiple sclerosis. The Krusen Award, one of the highest in rehabilitation medicine, is named in honor of one of the founders of the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.