Commendations & Commencements

Former NIDDK Advisory Council member Dr. Nancy Andrews of Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Duke University School of Medicine will be presented with the Henry M. Stratton Medal for her accomplishments in the field of iron homeostasis by the American Society of Hematology in December.

NIDDK Scientist Emeritus Dr. Peter H. Bennett received the first Harold Hamm International Prize for Biomedical Research in Diabetes from the Harold Hamm Diabetes Center at the University of Oklahoma at a ceremony in October. The award recognizes his groundbreaking research on risk factors for type 2 diabetes in Arizona’s Pima Indian community over the past five decades. Bennett’s findings continue to serve as a foundation for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of type 2 diabetes.

Dr. Paul Eggers, director of the NIDDK Kidney and Urology Epidemiology program, received the Department of Health and Human Services 2012 Career Achievement Award at a ceremony in October. The award recognizes Eggers’ work and research on end-stage renal disease. Eggers developed and managed the U.S. Renal Data System, which provides data on the incidence, prevalence, morbidity, mortality and costs of the disease.

NIDDK Advisory Council member Dr. Ken Kaushansky, dean of the School of Medicine and senior vice president of Health Sciences at Stony Brook University in New York, is being honored by the American Society of Hematology with the Ernest Beutler Lecture and Prize for his advances in the discovery of thrombopoietin, the platelet growth factor that regulates platelet production. He shares the award with Dr. David J. Kuter of the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center.

Editor's Note: NIDDK Director Dr. Griffin P. Rodgers received the Outstanding Achievement Award from the National Kidney Foundation at a November ceremony in Washington, D.C. The award recognizes Rodgers’ commitment to bettering the lives of patients with chronic kidney disease and advancing the awareness, prevention and treatment of the illness. As NIDDK director, Rodgers oversees kidney disease research at NIDDK and the National Kidney Disease Education Program. He also reaches out to at-risk groups through his “Healthy Moments” radio broadcast.

Minoo Shakoury-Elizeh, biologist in the intramural NIDDK Liver Diseases Branch, received the HHS Green Champion Award honorable mention for coordinating the Green Labs Fair in 2012. She has helped lead NIH closer to meeting its sustainable goals through reducing laboratory costs and waste, as well as encouraging efficient use of resources.

Dr. Allen Minton, senior investigator in the intramural NIDDK Laboratory of Biochemistry and Genetics, is retiring and returning under the 50 Percent Annuitant Program in January 2014. Along with helping to pioneer the concept of macromolecular crowding in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Minton has studied hemoglobin, sickle hemoglobin, insulin, and insulin receptors, setting the foundation for drug developments.

Dr. S. Stoney Simons, Jr., senior investigator in the intramural NIDDK Laboratory of Endocrinology and Receptor Biology, is retiring and returning under the 50 Percent Annuitant Program in January 2014. Simons served as chief of the Steroid Hormones Section for 29 years and led the Transcription Factors Interest Group at NIH. He developed the first affinity label of glucocorticoid receptors and co-created an experimentally validated mathematical model for steroid hormone action, the latter of which has provided novel information about the molecular steps in steroid-regulated gene transcription.

Dr. Andrew A. Bremer joined the NIDDK Division of Diabetes, Endocrinology, and Metabolic Diseases as a medical officer in November. He is a board-certified internist, pediatrician and pediatric endocrinologist, and has a doctorate in pharmacology. Prior to joining the NIH, he was an associate professor of medicine and pediatrics at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. His areas of expertise include pediatric and adult endocrine disorders, the metabolic effects of fructose, translational models of fructose-induced insulin resistance and dyslipidemia and cystic fibrosis-related diabetes.

Five members of the NIDDK Advisory Council have completed their four-year term:

Judy Hunt served on the Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolic Diseases Subcouncil. Hunt has been an active advocate for type 1 diabetes research and treatment since her daughter was diagnosed with the disease at a young age.

Dr. Francine Kaufman served on the Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolic Diseases Subcouncil. Kaufman is chief medical officer and vice president of Global Diabetes for Medtronic, Inc. and former head of the Center for Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.

Dr. Gregory Gores served on the Digestive Diseases and Nutrition Subcouncil. He is the Ruben R. Eisenberg Endowed Professor and Chair in Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the Mayo Clinic and the Mr. and Mrs. Ronald F. Kinney Executive Dean for Research.

Jane Holt served on the Digestive Diseases and Nutrition Subcouncil. Holt founded the National Pancreas Foundation in 1998 after a decade battling chronic pancreatitis. She is the former chair of the Digestive Disease National Coalition.

Dr. Anil Rustgi served on the Digestive Diseases and Nutrition Subcouncil. Rustgi is director of the Center for Molecular Studies in Digestive and Liver Diseases at the University of Pennsylvania and president of the American Gastroenterological Association.