Dr. Myron S. Cohen, Director of the Center for Infectious Diseases received the O. Max Gardner Award on May 9, 2008, from the UNC-CH Board of Governors.
Dr. Cohen is recognized as one of the world's leading authorities on the transmission and prevention of HIV/AIDs and other sexually transmitted diseases.
He has been honored for his international leadership in advancing HIV research, treatment and prevention in countries around the world, according to a press release. The award was established in 1949 by the will of Gov. Oliver Max Gardner to recognize faculty who have "made the greatest contributions to the welfare of the human race."
It is the only award for which all faculty members of the 17 UNC campuses are eligible. Recipients are nominated by their chancellors and selected by the Board of Governors. The 2008 award carries a $20,000 cash prize.
Dr. Cohen joined the UNC-CH faculty in 1980 - the very year that AIDS was first identified--and has spent more than two decades building a multidisciplinary team of researchers devoted to studying the transmission and prevention of the virus responsible for this devastating disease.
He is the J. Herbert Bate Distinguished professor of medicine, microbiology and public health and has served as director of the medical school's Division of Infectious Diseases since 1989.
He and his colleagues have built and sustained research and medical training projects in resource-poor countries such as Malawi, China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Africa, and Russia, as well as the United States. Dr. Cohen's team of researchers at Carolina developed sensitive assays to measure the concentration of the HIV virus in bodily fluids and was among the first to demonstrate that the presence of other sexually transmitted diseases can increase the likelihood of HIV transmission.
Their research provided the scientific foundation for the Center for Disease Control's 2005 strategic plan for HIV prevention and led the National Institutes of Health to tap UNC-CH to help develop a safe and effective vaccine against HIV/AIDS.
Dr. Miriam Braunstein, Assistant Professor of Microbiology (left), has been selected for
a Burroughs Wellcome Fund Investigators in Pathogenesis of Infectious Disease Award.
Dr. Blossom Damania, Associate Professor
of Microbiology and Immunology (below right), was also selected for this award several years ago.
This is a wonderful achievement for
an award that is highly competitive.
The Investigators in the Pathogenesis of Infectious Disease program provides opportunities
for assistant professors to bring multidisciplinary approaches to the study of human
infectious diseases. This award provides $500,000 over a period of five years ($100,000
per year). The goal of the program
is to provide opportunities for accomplished investigators still early in their
careers to study the pathogenesis of infectious disease at its most fundamental
level-the points where human and microbial systems connect.
The program supports research that sheds light on the fundamentals
that affect the outcomes of this encounter: how colonization, infection, commensalism
and other relationships play out at levels ranging from molecular interactions to
systemic ones.<br><br>
Dr. Alex Duncan, Assistant Professor of Medicine in Infectious Diseases, has
been selected as a Burroughs Wellcome Fund Career Awardee in the Medical Sciences.
This highly competitive award supports the transition of young physician scientists
to independent research careers. The Award provides $700,000 over five years.
Pictured above, from
left to right: Dr. Amelia Fischer Drake (UNC, ENT); Dr. Jeannette Fischer
Stein (Duke); and Dr. Lynne Mofenson (NIH).The Janet Fischer Memorial Lecture was given on January 4 by Dr. Lynne Mofenson, MD, NICHD. Dr. Fischer (1923-2007) was a valued and beloved member of the UNC ID community, and her legacy lives on.