Altman receives
Presidential Early Career Award
Dr. Russ B. Altman,
assistant professor of medicine and, by courtesy, of
computer science, was one of 59 prominent young
scientists honored this year with Presidential Early
Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers. Winners
received the awards in a special White House ceremony
held Nov. 3.
Altman's primary work is
in bioinformatics, the application of computer resources
to solve basic molecular biological problems. The
presidential award cites his "outstanding leadership
and accomplishment at the intersection of research in the
medical computer sciences and biotechnology."
Established by President
Bill Clinton in February 1996, the Presidential Early
Career Awards are the highest honor bestowed by the U.S.
government on scientists and engineers who are beginning
their careers. The stated purpose is to help meet the
administration's goals of producing outstanding
scientists for the coming century.
Ten government agencies
join together each year to nominate promising scientists
and engineers for the awards. Those selected receive up
to $500,000 over a five-year period to further their
research and to broadly advance science for important
government missions.
Altman is Stanford
University's only recipient this year. Last year, awards
went to two Stanford researchers: Dr. Paul A. Khavari,
assistant professor of dermatology and chief of
dermatology at the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care
System; and Charles Marcus, assistant professor of
physics.
In describing this year's
winners, Clinton said, "These gifted young
professionals exemplify the best of our science and
technology community and will help set the scientific
pace for the United States and the world in the years
ahead. Their passion for discovery and their
determination to explore new scientific frontiers will
drive this nation forward and build a better America for
the 21st century."
Altman, who holds both PhD
and MD degrees, is an active clinician in addition to his
prolific research role in the Department of Medicine's
Section on Medical Informatics.
"I am very honored to
receive this somewhat unexpected award," he said.
"I am especially happy that the federal agencies are
beginning to recognize the value and importance of work
in bioinformatics and its potential for contributions to
biology and biomedicine."
Altman is working to
develop techniques for collaborative scientific
computation over the Internet. With others in the Section
on Medical Informatics, he is studying the bacterial
ribosome to develop a computer model of this complex
molecule. One goal of such studies is to be able to
conduct biological research using a sophisticated
computer model that would replicate in vitro scientific
work.
Altman said he is also
interested in the macroenvironments that occur within
large, complex molecules. In particular, he is looking
for patterns in the detailed arrangements of atoms that
can be associated with certain important biological
functions. A catalog of these patterns would help
researchers identify the function of newly sequenced
genes.
Altman is associate
director of the Stanford Medical Scientist Training
Program and serves on numerous committees and boards,
including a leadership role on the National Biomedical
Computation Resource Advisory Board of the National
Institutes of Health, the agency that nominated him for
the presidential award.
A native of New York City,
he earned his PhD in the Stanford Program in Medicine
Information Sciences in 1989 and his MD from Stanford
University School of Medicine in 1990. He joined the
faculty here after completing his residency in medicine
at Stanford in 1992. SR
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