Their Just Rewards: Acknowledging Key Contributions of Society Members
Authors: Katherine P Ponder
Journal: Molecular Therapy (2013)

The American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy (ASGCT) is privileged to have many individuals who contribute to the Society in a variety of ways. Several of these will be recognized this year at the 16th Annual Meeting of the Society in May in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Outstanding Achievement Award will be given to Mark Kay of Stanford University. This is the sixth such award to be given since it was inaugurated in 2008. The highest honor for ASGCT members, it recognizes an active member who has achieved a pioneering research success, a specific high-impact accomplishment, or a lifetime of significant scientific contributions to the fields of gene and/or cell therapy. Although in the seminar he will present at the meeting Dr. Kay will focus on his recent work on nucleic acid–based therapies, he has also made substantial contributions to the fields of liver-directed therapy with adeno-associated virus and other vectors—work that started with his postdoctoral studies with Savio Woo at Baylor College of Medicine. He has also been involved with clinical trials for hemophilia. The Outstanding Achievement Award lecture will be presented on Friday morning. The Outstanding New Investigator Awards recognize active ASGCT members who are within 10 years of assuming an independent position and have demonstrated outstanding accomplishments during this period. These awards are being presented for the eleventh time since their inauguration in 2003. New investigators represent the future of the Society, and fostering the development of young scientists is essential to continued progress for the field of gene and cell therapy. The four recipients of the Outstanding New Investigator Award for 2013 nicely represent the breadth of the Society. Each recipient will present his or her research accomplishments in a 30-minute talk during the Outstanding New Investigator Symposium to be held Saturday morning. Aravind Asokan from the University of North Carolina will discuss the role of carbohydrates in adeno-associated virus (AAV) biology. Dr. Asokan has studied the mechanism by which AAV vectors bind to the surface of cells, which involves carbohydrates containing galactose for some serotypes. An understanding of how AAV binds to receptors is critical for understanding and modifying vector tropism. Paloma Giangrande from the University of Iowa will speak about targeted image-guided RNA therapies. Small interfering RNA (siRNA) has the potential to downregulate genes that contribute to cancer or other disease processes, but its delivery to the cytoplasm of cells has been problematic. Dr. Giangrande has demonstrated that RNAs can be produced that contain a region that binds to the surface of cells and promotes internalization (a so-called aptamer) in addition to an siRNA component, and that this can result in apoptosis of cancer cells. The presentation by Michael Laflamme from the University of Washington will be on cardiac repair with human pluripotent stem cells. Myocardial infarction and arrhythmias are a major cause of death worldwide. Dr. Laflamme has differentiated human embryonic stem cells into cardiomyocytes and shown that injection of these cells into animals with myocardial injury can improve contractility and reduce the development of cardiac arrhythmias. Finally, Ann Leen from Baylor College of Medicine will discuss T-cell therapy for viruses and cancer. Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation can be lifesaving for patients with leukemia or genetic disorders, but the development of viral infections after transplantation is a significant problem. Using cytokines and peptides from immunodominant epitopes, Dr. Leen has developed methods for rapidly stimulating the ex vivo replication of cytotoxic T lymphocytes that are specific for several viruses. She is currently testing the ability of this treatment to prevent the development of viral infections after transplantation. The Distinguished Service Award, which is being introduced at this year's meeting, recognizes a person or group that has consistently fostered and enhanced the field of genetic and/or cellular therapy. The award is being given jointly to two program officials at the National Institutes of Health: Sonia Skarlatos of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and Catherine McKeon of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. Drs. Skarlatos and McKeon have been consistent and unwavering advocates of scientific research to improve human health and supporters of gene therapy resource programs. A Special Recognition Award is being given this year to John Rossi of the Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope. Dr. Rossi is being honored for his numerous contributions to the Society, which include serving for many years as an adviser and contributing editor to Molecular Therapy, the Society's flagship journal, and more recently as the inaugural Editor-in-Chief of the Society's successful new open-access title, Molecular Therapy—Nucleic Acids, in addition to his service as Secretary for the Board of Directors. Finally, Excellence in Research Awards are being presented to graduate students (Sourav Choudhury from the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Drew C. Deniger from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and Rajiv Sharma from the University of Pennsylvania) and postdoctoral fellows (Luca Biasco from the San Raffaele Telethon Institute for Gene Therapy, Charles P. Lai from the Massachusetts General Hospital, and Barbara K. Smith from the University of Florida) who submitted the highest-ranking abstracts for their training level, and 120 travel awards have been awarded to trainees. Award recipients are determined by the Advisory Council of the ASGCT, and information on the past winners and procedures for nominating an individual in the future can be found on the ASGCT website (http://www.asgct.org/scientists-clinicians/asgct-grants-awards). OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT AWARD Friday, 17 May 2013, 8–9 AM Mark A. Kay, MD, PhD, Departments of Pediatrics and Genetics, Stanford University Topic: “Deciphering Vector and Non-coding RNA Biology: A New Frontier in Nucleic Acid–Based Therapies” OUTSTANDING NEW INVESTIGATOR AWARD Saturday, 18 May 2013, 8–10 AM Aravind Asokan, PhD, Department of Genetics and Gene Therapy Center, University of North Carolina Topic: “A Sweet Side to AAV Biology” Paloma H. Giangrande, PhD, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Iowa Topic: “Targeted Image-Guided RNA (TIGR) Therapies” Michael A. Laflamme, MD, PhD, Department of Pathology, University of Washington Topic: “Cardiac Repair With Human Pluripotent Stem Cells” Ann Leen, PhD, Center for Cell and Gene Therapy, Baylor College of Medicine Topic: “T-Cell Therapy for Viruses and Cancer” DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD Friday, 17 May 2013 at 8 AM Sonia Skarlatos, PhD, and Catherine McKeon, PhD, National Institutes of Health Topic: “Development of NIH Programs for Gene Therapy” SPECIAL RECOGNITION AWARD Friday, 17 May 2013 at 8 AM John J. Rossi, PhD, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope, and Editor-in-Chief, Molecular Therapy–Nucleic Acids Topic: “Development of Therapeutic Oligonucleotides”