U Geneticist Capecchi Wins Wolf Prize,
Pezcoller-AACR Award for Research
As a small child, Mario R. Capecchi, Ph.D., wandered homeless through Trento,
Italy, after the Nazis put his mother in a concentration camp.
In May Capecchi, distinguished professor of human genetics and biology, co-chair
of the U Department of Human Genetics, and an investigator for the Howard Hughes
Medical Institute, will return to Trento under happier circumstances. He will
receive a cash prize for winning the 2003 Pezcoller Foundation-AACR (American
Association for Cancer Research) International Award for Cancer Research.
But his travels will not stop in Italy. After receiving the award in Trento,
Capecchi will go to Israel to accept the 2002/03 Wolf Prize in Medicine-Israel's
top honor in medical research. He'll share the Wolf Prize with two other distinguished
researchers--Oliver Smithies of the University of North Carolina and Ralph
R. Brinster of the University of Pennsylvania.
Capecchi and Smithies, working independently, developed techniques for targeted
gene mutation in mammals, enabling researchers to create strains of mice with
mutations in virtually any gene. Brinster developed a way to modify genes in
mice embryo by injecting the eggs with RNA. Announcement of the awards had
Capecchi poring over a map of Northern Italy this week.
"It's gratifying to have people from around the world recognize our work," he
said. "Hopefully, it means that they're using the technology we've developed
and finding it beneficial, too."
A. Lorris Betz,
M.D., Ph.D., senior vice president for health sciences and dean of the
medical school, said the awards recognize the "fundamental
importance" of Capecchi's discoveries.
Raymond F. Gesteland,
Ph.D., U vice president for research and distinguished professor of genetics
and biology, called Capecchi "a
treasure."
Capecchi will accept the Pezcoller Foundation-AACR International Award for
Cancer Research at a March symposium in Toronto, where he'll also give a lecture.
In May, he'll travel to Trento to receive the cash prize from the Pezcoller
Foundation, then to Israel where he'll receive the Wolf Prize from the president
of Israel, Moshe Katsav, in a ceremony scheduled for May 11.
