THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 23, 1995 TAG: 9502230304
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARIE JOYCE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Short : 50 lines
Gary D. Hodgen, president of the Jones Institute for Reproductive Medicine, received the Virginia Outstanding Scientist of the Year award Wednesday from the Science Museum of Virginia.
Hodgen shares the award with Robert K. Yu, a neurobiochemistry researcher at the Medical College of Virginia, in Richmond.
``Both men are known nationally and internationally for their innovative contributions to scientific research,'' the museum said in a statement.
The science museum recognized Hodgen for his work to prevent Tay-Sachs, a fatal genetic disorder. Jones Institute work resulted in the birth last year of the first child guaranteed free of the disease.
Jones used a process called pre-implantation genetic diagnosis. Several eggs were removed from a woman's ovaries and fertilized in a petri dish with her husband's sperm. The embryos were examined for the disease, and several found to be free of the disease were implanted in the mother's uterus.
``Hodgen's scientific breakthrough demonstrates that pre-implantation genetic diagnosis can be used to prevent an array of inherited diseases, such as cystic fibrosis, hemophilia, sickle cell anemia, Huntington's disease,'' the citation said.
On Tuesday, Hodgen revealed that the Jones Institute will next try applying the technique to prevent Down syndrome.
Hodgen worked at the National Institutes of Health for 15 years, leaving in 1984 to join the faculty at Eastern Virginia Medical School.
He has been an outspoken opponent of government restrictions on fetal tissue research after the Clinton Administration moved to bar federal funding for research on human embryos.
Hodgen said Tuesday that those restrictions won't hurt the Jones Institute's programs, which will rely on private sources for funds to make up what the federal government withholds. Those private sources include donations, income from patients and partnerships with industry.
Yu, the other winner, is chairman of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics at MCV. His research has improved the understanding of how certain molecules are involved in the progression of some diseases, including multiple sclerosis. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Gary Hodgen
by CNB