Tampa, Fla. (May 3, 2010) - The American Society for Neural Therapy and Repair (ASNTR), holding its 17th Annual Meeting April 29th –May 1st, 2010 in Clearwater Beach, Florida, has awarded The 2010 Bernard Sanberg Memorial Award for Brain Repair to Shinn-Zong Lin, MD, PhD, professor of neurosurgery at China Medical University and Superintendent, China Medical University Beigang Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan. The award was presented in recognition of Prof. Lin's significant research contributions in neuroscience.
The award is named for Bernard Sanberg, father of Prof. Paul Sanberg (University of South Florida), a co-founder of the ASNTR. After Bernard Sanberg died of a stroke in 1999, the award bearing his name was established and is presented by the ASNTR annually to an individual who has made outstanding research contributions in the field of neural therapy and repair. The award, first presented in 2000, is presented every year at ASNTR's Annual Meeting.
"Dr. Lin has made major contributions in basic and clinical sciences for neural and stem cell transplantation therapy for stroke and Parkinsons disease." said Dr. Barry Hoffer, the scientific director of the Intramural Research program of the National Institute of Drug Abuse at NIH, who presented Prof. Lin with his award. "He has published extensively in high impact international journals. He was also the chief organizer and president of the 9th international meeting on neural transplantation and repair held in Taiwan in 2005, as well as organizing the Pan Pacific Symposium on Stem Cell Research held in Taiwan for the last three years".
Prof. Lin's areas of expertise include neuroscience, neurosurgery, translational science and hospital management.
Recent past winners of the award include Howard J. Federoff, MD, PhD, Georgetown University (2009); Paul Carvey, PhD, Rush University Medical Center (2008); Barry Hoffer, MD, PhD, NIDA/NIH (2007); and John Sladek, PhD, University of Colorado (2006).
In recognition of his significant contributions to the field of brain repair, the Molly and Bernard Sanberg Memorial Award for Lifetime Achievement was presented to Stephen B. Dunnett, PhD, DSc, professor Cardiff School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Wales. Prof. Dunnett's research advances our understanding of the mechanisms of cell death, plasticity and regeneration in the central nervous system. Much of his research focuses on seeking new therapy strategies, including neural transplantation and alternatives to using human embryonic cells for transplantation, to treat Parkinson's disease and Huntington's disease.
The Molly and Bernard Sanberg Award for Lifetime Achievement is presented periodically by the ASNTR to an outstanding scientist who has made a significant contribution to the field of Brain Repair. "Professor Dunnett has been an inspirational thought leader for several decades from his early studies on organization of the human nervous system to his elegant research promoting strategies for repair of the brain," said Dr. John Sladek professor of pediatrics and neuroscience at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, and presenter of the award to Prof. Dunnett.
ASNTR's 18th Annual Conference will be held in conjunction with The 11th International Conference on Neural Therapy and Repair from May 4 – May 8, 2011 in Clearwater Beach, Florida
ASNTR is a society for basic and clinical neuroscientists using a variety of technologies to better understand how the nervous system functions and establish new procedures for its repair in response to trauma or neurodegenerative disease. Member scientists employ stem/neural cell transplantation, gene therapy, trophic factor and neuroprotective compound administration and other approaches.
Contact: Donna Morrison (dmorrison@health.usf.edu)