JOURNAL STEM CELLS^® PRESENTS 3rd ANNUAL YOUNG INVESTIGATOR AWARD
AT
INTERNATIONAL STEM CELL SYMPOSIUM

Durham, NC & Seoul, Korea, June 20, 2008 - The journal STEM CELLS® announces that Lena Motoda, MD, PhD won the 3rd Annual STEM CELLS® Young Investigator Award. Co-sponsored by The International Stem Cell Symposium, the $10,000 prize is annually given to a young scientist who is the principal author of a research paper published in STEM CELLS judged to be most important by a worldwide jury. A medical graduate of The University of Tokyo, Dr. Motoda received her PhD degree for her Young Investigator Award winning research conducted at the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, National University of Singapore, with the mentorship of Associate Professor Motomi Osato and Professor Yoshiaki Ito.  Dr. Motoda is currently in the Department of Pediatrics, Toranomon Hospital, Tokyo.

STEM CELLS published Dr. Motoda's landmark paper that describes the importance of "RUNX1" as a molecular guardian of stem cells that produce blood cells. RUNX1, a transcription factor protein, protects these vital cells from cancer-inducing molecular insults by maintaining fail-safe cellular mechanisms.  This may offer new therapeutic options for blood cell malignancies like leukemia and lymphoma.

The article is freely available online: Abstract |  References |  Full Text: HTML, PDF (3022K).

Professor Miodrag Stojković, co-editor of STEM CELLS, remarked that, "Dr. Motoda's discovery demonstrates, once again, why it is essential to understand basic molecular mechanisms since these revelations may both help prevent disease and enable the development of novel and hopefully more effective therapeutic options." To which Professor Donald Phinney, STEM CELLS' other co-editor, remarked, "The manuscript by Motoda and her colleagues is an excellent example of how molecular mechanisms that regulate stem cell self-renewal, cell proliferation, and cell death are inextricably linked and how the perturbation of these pathways can cooperate to promote malignancies."

The 3rd annual award, presented on June 20th during the 6th Annual International Stem Cell Symposium, in Seoul, Korea, is considered one of the most important in this fast paced research arena. "The journal STEM CELLS is the oldest and most respected journal devoted to stem cell research and regenerative medicine.  The International Stem Cell Symposium, now in its sixth year, is pleased to partner with this world-class journal," said Professor Il-Hoan Oh, Director of The Catholic University of Korea's Cell & Gene Therapy Institute and chair of the Symposium's organizing committee.

Pictures From The 2008 International Stem Cell Symposium

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed