SAN FRANCISCO, CA - (May 17, 2010) – In the Opening Session of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists' (AAPS) 2010 National Biotechnology Conference, AAPS President Danny D. Shen, Ph.D., presented the following ground-breaking researchers with awards commemorating their contributions to the pharmaceutical sciences:
Excellence in Ligand-Binding Assay Award –
Sponsored by Millipore
- From ANP Technologies, Inc.: Ray Yin; Yli Vallejo; Jing Pan, Ph.D.; Thomas Small; Dujie Qin; Dave Chen From Merck & Co., Inc.: Cindy Pauley; Catherine Kaplansky; Thorsten Verch, Ph.D.; Ray Bakhtiar, Ph.D.— "NIDS® Rapid Assays for the Detection of Anti-Drug Antibodies to Peptide Drugs"
Innovation in Biotechnology Awards –
Sponsored by Genentech
- From Amgen Inc.: Todd Hager; Hossein Salimi-Moosavi, Ph.D.; Binodh DeSilva, Ph.D.— "A Multi-ELISA Approach for Evaluation In Vivo Stability of Recombinant Fusion Proteins"
- From University of Massachusetts Medical School: Hongwei Zhang, Ph.D.; Bin Yang, Ph.D.; Guangping Gao— "Global Transgene Expression in Mouse Brain by Intravenous Administration of Recombinant AAV Serotypes"
- From Central Michigan University: Ajit Sharma, Ph.D.; Choon Young Lee, Ph.D.; Rebecca L. Uzarski, Ph.D.; Samik Upadhaya; Jae Cheong; Julie Nelson— "Potent Dendritic Antioxidants Without Pro-oxidant Activity"
- From EpiVax, Inc.: Annie De Groot, Ph.D.; Janet Buhlmann; Leonard Moise; From Brigham and Women's Hospital & Children's Hospital Boston: Nader Najafian, Francesca D'Addio; Mohammed Sayegh. From Children's Hospital of Philadelphia: Katherine High; Daniel Hui, Federico Mingozzi. From the Institute for Immunology and Informatics, University of Rhode Island: Leslie De Groot. From University of Maryland: Achsah Keegan; David Scott, Ph.D.— "Preclinical Design of Less Immunogenic Biologics: Tregitopes and Tolerance"
Biotechnology Graduate Student Symposium Awards –
Sponsored by Eli Lilly and Company
NOTE: The Graduate Student Symposium will take place on Wednesday, May 19 at noon in Yosemite Rooms AB and C of the Hilton San Francisco Union Square.
- Yunching Chen – University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill "Nanoparticles Delivering siRNA and Doxorubicin Overcome Drug Resistance in Cancer"
- Ying He – University of Illinois at Chicago "Regulation of Opioid Tolerance by Let-7 microRNAs Targeting the Human and Mouse µ Opioid Receptors"
- Jithesh Velichamthotu Veetil - University of Arkansas, Fayetteville "Glucose Binding Protein Based Nanosensors as a Versatile Platform for Developing Reagentless Biosensors for Continuous Monitoring of Intracellular and in Vitro Glucose Levels"
- Zhe Wang – National University of Singapore "RGD Peptide Modified Nanoparticulated Combinatorial Delivery System of Paclitaxel and Combretastatin A4 for Anticancer and Antivasculature Activities"
About AAPS
The American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) is a professional, scientific organization of approximately 12,000 members employed in academia, industry, government, and other research institutes worldwide. Founded in 1986, AAPS provides a dynamic international forum for the exchange of knowledge among scientists to serve the public and enhance their contributions to health. AAPS offers timely scientific programs, on-going education, information resources, opportunities for networking, and professional development.
Editors Note: To request an interview with or photograph of a 2010 Award Winner, please contact Joseph Catapano at CatapanoJ@aaps.org, or at 703-248-4772.