People

Donald Brown, MD, (top photo) and Tom Maniatis, PhD, (middle photo) received the prestigious Lasker-Koshland Special Achievement Award in Medical Science, which carries a $250,000 honorarium, from the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation. Established in 1945, the award honors “visionaries whose insight and perseverance have led to dramatic advances that will prevent disease and prolong life.”

Brown, director emeritus of the department of embryology at the Carnegie Institution for Science in Baltimore, MD, discovered that the nucleolus manufactures ribosomal RNAs. He also revealed, in frog embryos, the first example of gene amplification, a process that underlies other cellular activities, including the runaway growth of drug-resistant cancer cells. He later studied genes via recombinant DNA.

Maniatis, chair of the department of biochemistry and molecular biophysics at Columbia University Medical Center in New York, is highly regarded for his research on the mechanisms of gene regulation and his Molecular Cloning manual. Used by researchers worldwide, the book includes nearly every technique biologists need to manipulate DNA, many of which he pioneered.

Robin Boettcher (bottom photo) joined the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation (PBTF) as chief executive officer in September. Prior to joining PBTF, Boettcher served as vice president of Chapter and Community Partnerships for the National Parkinson Foundation. She also worked as a national field director for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

PBTF is the world's largest nongovernmental source of funding for childhood brain tumor research.

For more news on cancer research, visit Cancer Discovery online at http://CDnews.aacrjournals.org.