Ari Patrinos, head of DOE's Human Genome Program, received the 21st Century Pioneer Award in June along with two of his predecessors, Charles DeLisi (Boston University) and David Galas (Keck Graduate Institute). Other recipients were Francis Collins, director of the NIH National Human Genome Research Institute, and representatives from the Wellcome Trust and the Institute of Medical Science at the University of Tokyo. This new award is presented by the Smithsonian Institution and Platinum Technology to individuals who have demonstrated vision and leadership as they strive to use information technology in innovative ways.

LBNL's Bissell Cited for Pioneering Cancer Research

In April, the American Association of Cancer Research (AACR) presented the G.H.A. Clowes Memorial Award to Mina Bissell, Life Sciences director at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Bissell was recognized for her research demonstrating that the extracellular matrix plays a vital role in gene expression and thus bears significantly on cell growth, functional differentiation, programmed cell death, and cancer. The award was established by the Eli Lilly Company to honor one of its research directors who also was a founding member of AACR. [For more information on Bissell's work, go to the LBL Web site, and search on "Bissell."]

ORNL's Vo-Dinh Receives Sixth R&D 100 Award

Researcher Tuan Vo-Dinh, group leader and Corporate Fellow at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, won a sixth prestigious R&D 100 Award and the Editors' Award for Most Promising New Technology for 1999. Vo-Dinh's multifunctional biochip for rapid screening and detection of pathogens and diseases was featured in this year's PBS series, Frontiers of Medicine.

Integrating microelectronics and biotechnology in a single system, the chip contains different types of bioprobes that allow diagnosis of multiple diseases. When fully developed, the technology will provide test results at the doctor's office for AIDS, cancer, tuberculosis, and other diseases and illnesses.