News Release

American Association of Anatomists announces young investigator award winners

Iain Cheeseman, Andrew Ewald, Konrad Hochedlinger, Alexis Stranahan receive young investigator awards from anatomy society

Grant and Award Announcement

American Association for Anatomy

Bethesda, Maryland—The American Association of Anatomist's (AAA) will present its 2011 Young Investigator Awards to four researchers who have already made important contributions in their respective fields and show remarkable promise of future accomplishments. Each recipient will present an awards lecture at the AAA Annual Meeting during Experimental Biology (EB) 2011 (Sunday, April 10, 5-7 p.m., Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Washington, DC, Room 102A).

Iain Cheeseman, a Member of the Whitehead Institute and an Assistant Professor of Biology at MIT, will receive AAA's 2011 R.R. Bensley Award in Cell Biology and present an award lecture on "Anatomy of a Kinetochore: Building a Microtubule Attachment Site." The award recognizes him for his series of seminal papers on the formation and function of the kinetochore during mitosis. Moreover, he is actively involved in pioneering the rapidly developing interface between proteomics and cell biology, which is likely to revolutionize the field.

Andrew Ewald, Assistant Professor in the Departments of Cell Biology and Oncology at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and a member of the Center for Cell Dynamics in the Institute for Basic Biomedical Sciences and the Breast Cancer Program at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, will receive AAA's Morphological Sciences Award and present an award lecture on "Cellular Strategies and Molecular Regulation of Normal and Neoplastic Epithelial Morphogenesis." The award recognizes him for significant advances in understanding the cellular and molecular basis of the growth, remodeling, and neoplastic transformation of epithelial tissues and his anticipated future contributions to the field of epithelial morphogenesis.

Konrad Hochedlinger, Associate Professor in Harvard's Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology, will receive AAA's 2011 Harland Winfield Mossman Award in Developmental Biology and present an award lecture entitled "Dissecting the Mechanisms of Cellular Reprogramming." The award recognizes Hochedlinger for his significant contributions to the field of stem cell biology, including the demonstration that cells could be reprogrammed without the use of integrating viruses, which offers enormous potential for future stem cell-based therapies.

Alexis M. Stranahan, Assistant Professor in the Department of Physiology at the Medical College of Georgia, will receive AAA's 2011 C.J. Herrick Award in Neuroanatomy and present an award lecture on "Stress Hormones Contribute to Metabolic and Cognitive Dysfunction in Insulin Resistant Diabetes." The award recognizes Stranahan for her steady stream of high quality, original, and high impact papers, providing novel insights into the mechanisms by which aging, exercise, social isolation, and diabetes act and interact to modify neural plasticity.

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The American Association of Anatomists, based in Bethesda, MD, was founded in 1888 for the "advancement of anatomical science." Today, AAA is the professional home for biomedical researchers and educators focusing on anatomical form and function. In addition to being the primary educators of medical students in their first year of medical school, AAA members worldwide work in imaging, cell biology, genetics, molecular development, endocrinology, histology, neuroscience, forensics, microscopy, physical anthropology, and numerous other exciting and developing areas. AAA publishes three journals—The Anatomical Record, Anatomical Sciences Education and Developmental Dynamics—plus a quarterly newsletter. Among its other programs and services, the organization sponsors an Annual Meeting (part of Experimental Biology), runs an extensive awards program, and maintains a website (www.anatomy.org) that offers members and others a variety of tools to enhance their teaching, research, and overall professional development.


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