Pediatric hematologist among finalists for NIH foundation’s Trailblazer Prize
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A pediatric hematologist is one of three finalists for the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health’s inaugural Trailblazer Prize for Clinician-Scientists.
The nominees represent early-career clinician-scientists whose outstanding research contributions have the potential to or have led to innovations in patient care.
The nominees are:
- Daniel Bauer, MD, PhD, assistant professor of pediatrics at Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center and Harvard Medical School. Bauer is nominated for pioneering research on genetic editing that can be translated into therapies for blood disorders, such as sickle cell disease and beta-thalassemia.
- Jaehyuk Choi, MD, PhD, assistant professor of dermatology, as well as assistant professor of biochemistry and molecular genetics at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. Choi is nominated for using genomics to identify mutations in skin cells that can lead to cancer and autoinflammatory diseases, as well as for inspiring novel therapeutic approaches for these diseases.
- Michael Fox, MD, PhD, associate professor of neurology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School. Fox is nominated for developing innovative techniques to map human brain connectivity that can be translated into new treatments for neurological diseases, such as depression and Parkinson’s disease.
A jury of five biomedical clinical-scientists selected the three finalists from more than 100 nominations.
The winner of the Trailblazer Prize — which includes a $10,000 honorarium — will be announced at the foundation’s annual fall board dinner on Oct. 24.
“The Foundation for the National Institutes of Health is delighted to recognize these three outstanding clinician-scientists as the finalists of the 2018 Trailblazer Prize,” Steven M. Paul, MD, chairman of the board for the foundation, said in a press release. “Even in the earliest stages of their careers, they are driving innovations in the lab that can directly translate into new approaches for preventing and treating disease. We hope that showcasing their unique work through this prize will inspire a new generation of clinician-scientists, whose work is invaluable to the medical field.”