Maniatis and Kan to Receive First Beutler Award from ASH
July 14, 2009 – The American Society of Hematology (ASH) has announced that Thomas Maniatis, Ph.D., of Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, and Yuet Wai Kan, M.D., of the University of California – San Francisco, are the inaugural recipients of the Ernest Beutler Lecture and Prize.
This award, named for the late Ernest Beutler, M.D., past president of ASH and physician-scientist for more than 50 years, includes a two-part lectureship that recognizes major advances related to a single topic. This year’s lecture will be on the impact of molecular genetic studies of globin genes on the diagnosis and treatment of thalassemia. The award will be presented at the 51st ASH Annual Meeting taking place December 5-8 in New Orleans.
Dr. Maniatis is the Jeremy R. Knowles Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology at Harvard. His work involves understanding the mechanisms involved in the regulation of RNA transcription and pre-messenger RNA splicing in a broad biological context. A 1997 Harvard University Gazette article states that Dr. Maniatis and his team were the first to clone a human gene, specifically the hemoglobin gene; this then enabled them to precisely pinpoint mutations that cause thalassemia.
Dr. Kan is the current Louis K. Diamond Professor of Hematology and the head of the Division of Molecular Medicine and Diagnostics at the University of California – San Francisco and a former President of ASH. He has worked extensively in thalassemia and pioneered fetal DNA diagnosis techniques in both thalassemia and sickle cell. He currently focuses his research on the use of gene and cell therapy to treat sickle cell anemia and thalassemia. Dr. Kan received the Dameshek Prize in 1979 and the Stratton Medal in 1980 for his research.
CAF congratulates these distinguished scientists for this special and well-deserved recognition.