Month: December 2018

The 2019 Stanley J. Korsmeyer Award: Michael S. Diamond, MD, PhD

Posted on by John Hawley

Dr. Diamond

Michael S. Diamond, MD, PhD, is the recipient of the American Society for Clinical Investigation’s (ASCI) 2019 Stanley J. Korsmeyer Award for his key contributions to understanding the molecular basis of disease caused by globally emerging RNA viruses.

Dr. Diamond received his BA from Columbia University in 1985, his PhD from Harvard University in 1992 in the laboratory of Timothy A. Springer, PhD, and his MD from Harvard Medical School in 1994. From 1994 to 1995 he was a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Gerald M. Rubin, PhD, Department of Genetics, University of California, Berkeley; and from 1998 to 2001 he was a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Eva Harris, PhD, Department of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley.

An RNA virus has RNA, as opposed to DNA, as its genetic material. As a result, RNA viruses in general have a higher mutation rate than DNA viruses, complicating efforts to produce vaccines to reduce or prevent infection. Dr. Diamond has focused on a subset of RNA viruses known as flaviviruses, which include Zika, West Nile, and dengue viruses, and alphaviruses, which include chikungunya virus. Dr. Diamond has identified many of the key immune system components that define host protection against these virus types, and the viral genes that work against this response.

In 2010, his laboratory made a seminal discovery by identifying a novel pathogen-associated molecular pattern (lack of 2′-O-methylation on the 5′ viral RNA cap) and mechanism of innate immune restriction through IFIT1 proteins. His group has used genome-wide screening to identify host factors required by viruses, including Mxra8, a novel entry receptor for multiple alphaviruses of global concern. He has led the field in studying mechanisms of pathogenesis of Zika infection and disease, including in pregnancy. His group also has generated, characterized, and mapped thousands of neutralizing antibodies against Zika, West Nile, dengue, chikungunya, and other viruses. His work has led directly to the development of therapeutic antibodies and vaccines against both flaviviruses and alphaviruses.

Dr. Diamond joined the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis in 2001. He is currently the Herbert S. Gasser Professor, Departments of Medicine, Molecular Microbiology, and Pathology & Immunology, and Associate Director, Center for Human Immunology and Immunotherapy Programs, Washington University School of Medicine. An active mentor, he has 7 doctoral students at present and has advised 14 who have completed their PhD degrees in his laboratory; he currently has 7 postdoctoral fellows and has mentored more than 20 in his group who have transitioned to independent careers in academia and industry.

Dr. Diamond’s research has been supported by the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

Dr. Diamond was a recipient of the Edward Mallinckrodt, Jr. Foundation Award (2002-2004), a New Scholar Award in Global Infectious Disease, Ellison Medical Foundation (2003-2006), and a Burroughs Wellcome Fund Clinical Scientist Award in Translational Research (2007-2015). He was elected as an ASCI member in 2007; an American Academy of Microbiology Fellow in 2010; an Association of American Physicians member in 2011; an American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellow in 2017; and a National Academy of Medicine member in 2018.

New members, 2019

Posted on by John Hawley

On behalf of the ASCI Council, I am pleased to announce the election of the Society’s new members for 2019.

These new members come from 46 different institutions and represent excellence across the breadth of academic medicine. They will be officially inducted into the Society at the ASCI Dinner & New Member Induction Ceremony on April 5, 2019, as part of the 2019 AAP/ASCI/APSA Joint Meeting (April 5-7) at the Fairmont Chicago Millennium Park. We hope you will be able to join us.

The Council recommended 80 nominees (the limit according to the ASCI bylaws) for election from the 176 nominations submitted for consideration. The Active segment of the membership recently voted to confirm the recommendation, with over 60% of eligible voters submitting their votes by the December 5 deadline. The vote was overwhelmingly in favor of approving the recommendation.

As Secretary-Treasurer, I served as one of three required auditors of the ballot. Thank you to Benjamin Humphreys and XinQi Dong, who volunteered their time to serve as the other two auditors.

Sincerely,

Hossein Ardehali, MD, PhD
2017-2019 Secretary-Treasurer
The American Society for Clinical Investigation

Name Institution
Kjersti M. Aagaard, MD, PhD Baylor College of Medicine
Michelle Asha Albert, MD, MPH University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine
Laura Cristina Alonso, MD University of Massachusetts Medical School
Joshi J. Alumkal, MD Oregon Health & Science University
Jintanat Ananworanich, MD, PhD U.S. Military HIV Research Program (MHRP)
Reza Ardehali, MD, PhD University of California, Los Angeles, David Geffen School of Medicine
Maryam M. Asgari, MD, MPH Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital
David Allen Barbie, MD Harvard Medical School, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Gregory Lawrence Beatty, MD, PhD University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
Eran Bendavid, MD, MS Stanford University School of Medicine
Rachel Pardes Berger, MD, MPH University of Pittsburgh Children’s Hospital
Chetan Bettegowda, MD, PhD Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Ankit Bharat, MBBS Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Bibiana Bielekova, MD NIH, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
Marie Bleakley, MD, PhD, MClinEpi University of Washington School of Medicine
Barry A. Borlaug, MD Mayo Clinic
Isaac F. Brownell, MD, PhD NIH, National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases
Carolyn S. Calfee, MD, MAS University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine
Marina Caskey, MD The Rockefeller University
Ronald C. Chen, MD, MPH University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Stuart Alexander Cook, BsC, MBBS, MRCP, PhD Duke-NUS Medical School
Kelly E. Dooley, MD, PhD, MPH Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Todd E. Druley, MD, PhD Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis
Kafui Dzirasa, MD, PhD Duke University Medical Center
Souheil Youssef El-Chemaly, MD, MPH Harvard Medical School, Brigham & Women’s Hospital
Felix Y. Feng, MD University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine
Michael David Fox, MD, PhD Harvard Medical School, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Saar I. Gill, MD, PhD University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
Morgan E. Grams, MD, PhD, MHS Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Peter W. Groeneveld, MD, MS University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
Orlando M. Gutierrez, MD, MMSc University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine
Jason B. Harris, MD, MPH Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital
John E. Harris, MD, PhD University of Massachusetts Medical School
Elliott Richard Haut, MD, PhD Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Anna Ryan Hemnes, MD Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
A. McGarry Houghton, MD Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Renee Yuen-Jan Hsia, MD, MSc University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine
David Michael Hyman, MD Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Louise C. Ivers, MD, MPH Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital
William J. Janssen, MD National Jewish Health
Jonathan James Juliano, MD, MSPH, DTM&H University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Dineo Khabele, MD, FACOG, FACS University of Kansas School of Medicine
Richard Glenn Kibbey IV, MD, PhD Yale School of Medicine
Amy J.H. Kind, MD, PhD University of Wisconsin Medical School
Heidi H. Kong, MD, MHSc NIH, National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases
Scott Kopetz, MD, PhD University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
Siavash K. Kurdistani, MD University of California, Los Angeles, David Geffen School of Medicine
Louise Chang Laurent, MD, PhD University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine
Julie E. Ledgerwood, DO NIH, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
Alexander Marson, MD, PhD University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine
Samia Mora, MD, MHS Harvard Medical School, Brigham & Women’s Hospital
Nima Mosammaparast, MD, PhD Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis
Nicolas Musi, MD University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
Markus Müschen, MD, PhD City of Hope Medical Center
Keisuke Nagao, MD, PhD NIH, National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases
Serge Patrick Nana-Sinkam, MD Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine
Dale Murray Needham, MD, PhD Johns Hopkins Medical Institutes
Sattva S. Neelapu, MD University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
Deepak Nijhawan, MD, PhD University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Emily Oken, MD, MPH Harvard Medical School
Elif Arioglu Oral, MD University of Michigan Medical School
Brian A. Primack, MD, PhD, MS, EdM University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Jianwen Que, MD, PhD Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons
Manuela Raffatellu, MD University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine
Peter Philip Reese, MD, MSCE University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
Erik D. Roberson, MD, PhD University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine
Andrew David Rule, MD, MSc Mayo Clinic
Aasma Shaukat, MD, MPH University of Minnesota Medical School
Jordan A. Shavit, MD, PhD University of Michigan Medical School
Maureen A. Su, MD University of California, Los Angeles, David Geffen School of Medicine
Yang Sun, MD, PhD Stanford University School of Medicine
William Douglas Tap, MD Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Robert Thimme, MD University Medical Center Freiburg
Aaron A. R. Tobian, MD, PhD Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Eliezer M. Van Allen, MD Harvard Medical School, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Matthew G. Vander Heiden, MD, PhD Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Adrian Vella, MD Mayo Clinic
Jennifer A. Wargo, MD, MMSc University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
James C. Yao, MD University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
Hao Zhu, MD University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center

Call for Council nominations, 2019

Posted on by John Hawley

The Society seeks nominations for the following vacancies on the ASCI Council (all terms begin and end in the spring): Vice President (4-year term, 2019-2023) and 2 Councilor positions (3-year term, 2019-2022).

All Council members are expected to support the activities of and attend the ASCI annual meeting, and to participate in the general governance of the Society, including two in-person meetings (fall and spring, coordinate with the annual meeting) and conference calls (typically every other month). All Council members participate in the review of membership nominations.

The Vice President transitions to President-Elect in year 2 and President in year 3. For the 2nd through 4th years of this position, this member is expected to participate significantly in matters related to the Joint Meeting. In the Presidential year (year 3), the member convenes a face-to-face Council meeting and oversees related review processes for nominations, notably including those to membership. The President works closely with the Association of American Physicians to create the annual meeting program, and the member presents the traditional Presidential Address at the meeting. In year 4, the President transitions to Immediate Past President, serving as an advisor to the current President and with full Council responsibilities and privileges.

The Council is supported by an Executive Director, Managing Director, and other staff members who oversee the day-to-day operations of the Society and effect initiatives as directed by the Council. For details on Officers and Councilors, see the ASCI Bylaws.

Members who will be 55 or younger in 2022 are eligible for nomination. Nominations must be submitted by members through their member accounts by January 2, 2019, at 11:59 PM Eastern, and consist of a 250-word summary of accomplishments accompanied by an NIH-style brief biosketch (PDF only). Self-nominations are not allowed. If the nomination is intended for a specific vacancy, note this in the nomination comments. The Society encourages members to consider diversity in identifying those suitable for nomination.