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Date: February 19, 2009
Contact: Jennifer Forbes
Communications & Public Affairs
Phone: 732-235-6356
Email: jenn.forbes@umdnj.edu
Joseph R. Bertino, MD and Aaron J. Shatkin, PhD Recognized for Outstanding Medical Research
The Edward J. Ill Excellence in Medicine Foundation, Inc., has announced that two of UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School’s leading researchers will be honored for their achievements in medical research.
Joseph R. Bertino, MD, professor of medicine and pharmacology at the UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, chief scientific officer and associate director of The Cancer Institute of New Jersey, and interim director of the Stem Cell Institute of New Jersey, will receive the Outstanding Medical Research Scientist Award for Clinical Research. The award is presented to an individual who has made important contributions in clinical or translational research leading to advances in disease therapy.
Dr. Bertino, of Franklin Park, Somerset County, is a world-renowned medical oncologist and researcher who is internationally recognized for his role in finding curative treatments for leukemia and lymphoma. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Statesman Award and the Distinguished Service Award for Scientific Achievement from the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and the Joseph H. Burchenal Memorial Award for outstanding achievement in clinical cancer research from the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR).
Aaron J. Shatkin, PhD, professor of Molecular Genetics, Microbiology and Immunology, director of the Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine (CABM) and member of The Cancer Institute of New Jersey, will receive the Outstanding Medical Research Scientist Award for Basic Biomedical Research. Dr. Shatkin is the first recipient of this award, presented to an individual who has carried out biomedical research leading to important advances in biotechnology or in the understanding of disease processes.
Dr. Shatkin earned his doctorate from Rockefeller University, New York, NY, where he trained with Nobelist E.L. Tatum. He conducted research on the structure and function of animal cells and viruses at the National Institutes of Health, the Salk Institute and the Roche Institute of Molecular Biology before being named director of the Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine. CABM is jointly administered with Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, where he is University Professor of Molecular Biology. Dr. Shatkin has published more than 200 scientific papers, and his work has provided new insights into diseases including cancer, AIDS and other viral infections.
The awards will be presented at the Edward J. Ill Excellence in Medicine Awards® ceremony on May 6, 2009 at the Hyatt Regency Princeton. Profits from this year’s event will benefit the Community Food Bank of New Jersey and the Joetta Clark Diggs Sports Foundation’s Head 2 Toe Fitness Program. For more information about the Edward J. Ill Excellence in Medicine Foundation visit www.EJIawards.org.
For information about all awardees at UMDNJ, please go to:
Edward J. Ill Excellence in Medicine Foundation, Inc., to Recognize Five UMDNJ Educators in May
