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Nalini Padmanabhan
ASHG Communications Manager
301.634.7346
press@ashg.org
For Immediate Release
Monday, June 27, 2016
10:00 am U.S. Eastern Time (UTC-05:00)
Geneticist and Educator to Receive Award at ASHG 2016 Annual Meeting
BETHESDA, MD – The American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG) has named David Valle, MD, Henry J. Knott Professor and Director of the McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine, with an appointment in the Department of Pediatrics and joint appointments in Molecular Biology and Genetics, Ophthalmology and Biology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, as the 2016 recipient of the annual Arno Motulsky-Barton Childs Award for Excellence in Human Genetics Education. Dr. Valle also directs the Predoctoral Training Program in Human Genetics and the Residency Program in Medical Genetics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and was the founding director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Inherited Disease Research.
The ASHG award recognizes an individual for contributions of exceptional quality and importance to human genetics education internationally. Awardees have had long-standing involvement in genetics education, producing diverse contributions of substantive influence on individuals and/or organizations. Dr. Valle will receive his award, which includes a plaque and $10,000 prize, on Friday, October 21, during ASHG’s 66th Annual Meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia.
As Director of the Predoctoral Training Program in Human Genetics since 1989, Dr. Valle has been involved in the education of more than 400 students. As a physician-scientist, he continues to lecture to medical students and helped lead the development and implementation of ‘Genes to Society,’ a revised medical school curriculum at Johns Hopkins based on the theme of individuality/variability. He has participated in numerous scientific advisory groups. Noted for his Socratic style, he has trained more than 40 graduate students and postdocs in his laboratory.
Outside of Johns Hopkins, Dr. Valle has co-directed the McKusick Short Course in Human and Mammalian Genetics and Genomics at the Jackson Laboratory, an annual two-week program that enrolls students from around the world, since 1992. He has also edited the 6th, 7th, and 8th editions of The Metabolic Basis of Inherited Disease, a core genetics textbook, and since 2001 has served as editor-in-chief of the online version of Scriver’s Metabolic and Molecular Bases of Inherited Disease.
Dr. Valle has been recognized for his scientific leadership by many organizations. He was President of the Society of Inherited Metabolic Disorders from 1987-1989, and was elected to the Institute of Medicine in 2002, to Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2007, and as a Diplomat of the Association of American Physicians in 2013. He also received the March of Dimes Foundation’s Colonel Harland Sanders Award for Lifetime Achievement in Genetic Research and Education in 2003, and gave the inaugural Charles R. Scriver Lectureship in 2006 and the inaugural William S. Sly Lectureship in 2009. He has published more than 250 papers in the scientific literature and more than 35 book chapters.
ASHG also recognizes Dr. Valle’s substantial contributions to the Society. A member since 1982, he belonged to ASHG’s Program Committee from 1985-1988, including a year as Chair in 1987; served on its Board of Directors from 1989-1992 and from 2002-2005; and was its President in 2003. In addition, he served on the Editorial Board of The American Journal of Human Genetics from 1989-1991, and received the ASHG Victor A. McKusick Leadership Award in 2014.
About the American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG)
Founded in 1948, the American Society of Human Genetics is the primary professional membership organization for human genetics specialists worldwide. Its nearly 8,000 members include researchers, academicians, clinicians, laboratory practice professionals, genetic counselors, nurses, and others with an interest in human genetics. The Society serves scientists, health professionals, and the public by providing forums to: (1) share research results through the ASHG Annual Meeting and in The American Journal of Human Genetics; (2) advance genetic research by advocating for research support; (3) educate current and future genetics professionals, health care providers, advocates, policymakers, educators, students, and the public about all aspects of human genetics; and (4) promote genetic services and support responsible social and scientific policies. For more information, visit: http://wptest.ashg.org.
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