Stanford Report, April 6, 2005

Medical center people

Paul Berg

Theodore Sectish

Paul Berg, PhD, the Robert W. and Vivian K. Cahill Professor of Cancer Research, Emeritus, will be the recipient of the 2005 Biotechnology Heritage Award presented by the Chemical Heritage Foundation and Biotechnology Industry Organization. The award is scheduled to be presented in June at the board of directors dinner at the BIO 2005 in Philadelphia.

Berg is the recipient of numerous other awards, most notably, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1980, for gene splicing, a method used to map the structure and function of DNA. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the French Academy and the U.K. Royal Society and was awarded the National Medal of Science in 1983.

Pamela F. Colosimo, PhD, a postgraduate researcher, was one of fifteen chosen from the United States and Canada to receive the 2005 Harold M. Weintraub Graduate Student Award, sponsored by the Basic Sciences Division of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Award Center. The award was established in 2000 and honors the late Harold M. Weintraub, PhD. He was a founding member of the Basic Sciences Division, and was an international leader in the field of molecular biology. Colosimo was one of the principal researchers in a recent study that found that changes in a single gene can produce major changes in the skeletal armor of stickleback fish living in the wild. She and other award recipients will participate in a scientific symposium at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in May.

Theodore Sectish, MD, has been promoted to associate professor of pediatrics in the teaching line, as of April 1. His research interests primarily focus on education, and he is involved in evaluating the impact of residency curriculum on resident competence and preparedness for practice. He serves as director of the residency training program in pediatrics at the medical school.

Sectish is also currently president of the Association of Pediatric Program Directors as well as being a member of the Federation of Pediatric Organizations and sitting on the program directors committee of the American Board of Pediatrics.