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| Dr. Lynn Mofenson of NICHD and Dr. Neal Young
of NHLBI were among 9 winners of the Samuel J.
Heyman Service to America Medals. |
Two NIH scientists were among 9 winners of
the Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals,
or “Sammies,” bestowed on public servants
who make “high-impact contributions to the
health, safety and well-being of Americans.”
Dr. Lynn Mofenson, chief of NICHD’s Pediatric,
Adolescent and Maternal AIDS Branch, received
the Federal Employee of the Year Award from
the Partnership for Public Service.
Dr. Neal Young, chief of NHLBI’s Hematology
Branch, received the Sammie in the Science and
Environment category.
Mofenson was recognized for playing a crucial
role in preventing the AIDS epidemic among
U.S. children, helping to design and conduct
a pivotal clinical trial that led to an effective
means to prevent pregnant women from passing
HIV on to their infants and for dedicating
her career to conducting additional research on
HIV and influencing national HIV policy.
In 1989, when Mofenson came to NICHD, 25 to
35 percent of all infants born to HIV-positive
mothers were themselves HIV-positive. A landmark
research study published by Mofenson
and her colleagues in 1994 showed that use of
the anti-HIV drug zidovudine (AZT) reduced the
mother-to-child HIV transmission rate to 8.3
percent. Mofenson’s further collaborations led
to other successful strategies for blocking mother-
to-child transmission. She later chaired a Public
Health Service task force that made national
recommendations on preventing pediatric AIDS
infection and later worked to implement these
recommendations. Currently, there are fewer
than 100 new HIV cases transmitted from mother
to child in the U.S. each year. Today, Mofenson
continues to work with colleagues in this
country and around the world to reduce mother-to-child HIV transmission.
Young’s work has saved the lives of patients
with bone marrow failure diseases, including
aplastic anemia. Accomplishments from his laboratory
include the successful development of
immunosuppressive therapies for patients with aplastic anemia and related syndromes; the description of B19 parvovirus as an
agent of human disease and the development of a vaccine that is now in clinical
trials; and the elucidation of both the immunology and genetics of acquired
aplastic anemia, including the first demonstration of pathogenic mutations in
TERT, the gene for the telomerase enzyme.
“It is wonderful to see Neal receive such prestigious recognition for his achievements
and his ongoing efforts to improve the lives of people with rare blood and
bone marrow diseases,” said NHLBI director Dr. Gary Gibbons. “We are proud of
the extraordinary public service that he and others of our staff here at the
NHLBI perform every day.”
