Project Northland, the alcohol abuse prevention program developed by Carolyn Williams, associate professor of epidemiology, will be implemented in Moscow schools this fall. Williams worked with a Russian psychologist and a pediatrician at the project site this summer. Project Northland involves approximately 1,200 youngsters in grades six through eight in 24 school districts in 28 adjoining northeastern Minnesota communities. The study is sponsored by the National Institutes of Health. The Russian collaboration grew out of the of the Gore-Cheromyrdin health commission initiative launched two years ago to promote health in Russia.
Russian adults have a high rate of alcoholism.
Michael O Connor, the U s first Howard Hughes Institute scholar , joined the faculty of the Medical School and the College of Biological Sciences this fall. Recruited from the University of California, Irvine, O Connor is a molecular geneticist whose research is focused on how a single fertilized egg develops into an adult organism. He is working with Christopher Wylie, director of developmental genetics, in laboratories in Moos Tower. The Howard Hughes Institute is the largest supporter of biomedical research and education in the U.S. O Connor also holds an endowed chair funded by the Ordway family. Congratulations to Robert Gorlin , regents professor emeritus in the School of Dentistry, for winning Italy s 1997 International Prize in Medical Genetics.