Qiang Wu, Assistant Professor of Human Genetics, has received the prestigious Basil O’Connor Starter Scholar Award from the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation. Dr. Wu joined the Department of Human Genetics in 2001. His research on the protocadherin gene cluster is currently supported by a research grant from the American Cancer Society.

“These generous supports will help me establish a laboratory in the Department of Human Genetics and recruit graduate students and postdoctoral fellows to work on this interesting gene cluster,” said Dr. Wu.

“These grants demonstrated our success in having newly recruited faculty quickly gain competitive funding,” said Mario Capecchi, Ph.D., Co-chair of the Department of Human Genetics.

After receiving a BS degree in 1990 and an MS degree in 1993 from Fudan University, Qiang Wu earned a Ph.D. in Cellular and Developmental Biology in 1998 from the State University of New York at Stony Brook and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. He completed postdoctoral training in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology at Harvard University under the direction of Professor Tom Maniatis while holding a Damon Runyon – Walter Winchell Cancer Research Fund Fellowship.

The Basil O’Connor Awards are designed to support young scientists who are beginning their independent research careers. The Award is named after the March of Dimes’ first chairman and president.

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.

# # #