$100,000 Prize to Pioneers in Neural Research

Michele Kling [email protected] 914-997-4613

MARCH OF DIMES AWARDS $100,000 PRIZE TO PIONEERS IN NEURAL RESEARCH

Discovery of Genetic Control of Nerve Cell Development and Communication May Lead to New Treatments

BALTIMORE, APRIL 30, 2001 -- Two renowned neuroscientists whose discoveries have helped revolutionize the understanding of brain "wiring" and how it goes awry in birth defects and adult diseases, will receive this year's March of Dimes Prize in Developmental Biology here today.

Corey S. Goodman, Ph.D., Evan Rauch Professor of Neuroscience and Director of the Wills Neuroscience Institute at the University of California, Berkeley, and Thomas M. Jessell, Ph.D., FRS, Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics at Columbia University, New York, both Howard Hughes Medical Investigators, are being honored for genetic research of profound importance to understanding the development and function of the central nervous system (CNS).

The Prize is a cash award of $100,000 (to be shared equally between the two co-recipients) and a silver medal in the design of the Roosevelt dime, in honor of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who founded the March of Dimes.

"These two imaginative scientists have helped to shape the present and future directions of an entire field of neural research," says Dr. Jennifer L. Howse, president of the March of Dimes. "The result is that we now have opportunities to develop new types of gene-based drugs or other therapies for neural tube birth defects, such as spina bifida and anencephaly, and neurological disease such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and motor neuron diseases. This includes the possibility that, some day, patients with these disorders or with traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries may be treated by regrowing the right type of CNS cells and by coaxing their damaged cells into regrowing the right types of connections."

Beginning 20 years ago, Dr. Goodman has focused his research on advancing the molecular-level knowledge of the development of brain circuitry. Using powerful genetic screens in a model organism, the fruitfly, he helped discover many key genes that control the growing tips of nerve cells known as axons, steer them to their proper targets, and direct them to make the appropriate synaptic connections. Dr. Goodman has also demonstrated that these genes and mechanisms that control brain wiring are nearly identical in all animal species, including humans.

Dr. Jessell has dedicated himself for more than 15 years to groundbreaking genetic studies of embryonic nerve cells and glial cells in the CNS. Using mice and other vertebrates, he helped discover key genes involved in the signals that determine the identity of neurons and the specificity of the connections these neurons make with their targets. Dr. Jessell also has demonstrated that these genes and mechanisms are nearly identical in all vertebrate animals.

The March of Dimes Prize in Developmental Biology is awarded annually to investigators whose research has profoundly advanced the science that underlies our understanding of birth defects. The March of Dimes created the Prize as a tribute to Dr. Jonas Salk shortly before his death in 1995.

The Prize will be awarded tonight to Dr. Goodman and Dr. Jessell at a black tie dinner and ceremony beginning at 6:30 p.m. at the Harbor Court Hotel. Greg Gumbel, host and play-by-play announcer for CBS Sports, and a member of the March of Dimes national Board of Trustees, will serve as the host of the ceremony.

Dr. Goodman and Dr. Jessell also will deliver the sixth annual March of Dimes Prize Lectures today beginning at 1:00 p.m. in Ballroom 3 of the Baltimore Convention Center during the 2001 Annual Meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies.

The March of Dimes is a national voluntary health agency whose mission is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects and infant mortality. Founded in 1938, the March of Dimes funds programs of research, community services, education, and advocacy to save babies. More information is available on the March of Dimes Website at www.modimes.org, or on its Spanish Website at www.nacersano.org, or by calling toll-free 1-888-MODIMES.