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Frank Annunzio Awards 2002
Frank Annunzio Award Scholars
The Christopher Columbus Fellowship Foundation is honored to have awarded the achievements of the following four 2002 $50,000 Frank Annunzio Awards Columbus Scholars:Arts/Humanities/Humanitarian field
James C. Cobey, M.D.
Orthopaedic Surgeon, Washington Hospital Center, Washington, D.C.
Dr. Cobey
has been a lifelong champion of humanitarian causes and has put his professional
medical expertise in orthopaedics to good use by helping thousands of children,
patients, landmine and war victims worldwide under the auspices of the American
Red Cross and Health Volunteers Overseas.
Dr. Cobey led a mission with Physicians for Human Rights to collect reliable estimates on the medical tragedies caused by landmines. His research has resulted in bringing unheralded attention to the issue of landmines. His research helped galvanize support for a ban, which eventually led to the creation of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, a group responsible for the 40-nation Land Mine Ban treaty calling for the destruction of stockpiled mines.
Dr. Cobey volunteers for a wide variety of humanitarian causes including the plight of refuges with Refugees International and offers his professional care at no expense to recent indigent immigrants who have no access to critically needed medical care.
As a member of Physicians for Human Rights, Dr. Cobey shared the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize for the International Campaign to Ban Landmines.
William P. Magee Jr., D.D.S., M.D.
CEO and Co-founder, Operation Smile, Inc., Norfolk, Virginia
Dr. William
P. Magee Jr., a leading plastic and craniofacial surgeon, founded Operation
Smile, Inc., with his wife, Kathleen S. Magee, B.S.N., M.Ed., M.S.W.
Under the Magee's leadership, Operation Smile, a private, not-for-profit volunteer
medical services organization has provided reconstructive surgery and related
health care to indigent children and young adults in developing countries and
the United States.
Globally, Operation Smile has trained thousands of physicians and other health professionals who volunteer their time to perform advanced medical procedures in their own local hospitals, dramatically improving the quality of life for tens of thousands of children. In 1999 the Magee's launched World Journey of Hope '99, the largest surgical mission in history dedicated to correcting facial deformities among some of the world's neediest children. The nine-week mission, the first-ever of its kind, transformed the lives of more than 5,300 children and young adults in 17 developing countries and in ten cities across the United States.
In addition, Operation Smile is planning a study of 9,000 pregnant women to test diet and nutrition supplements as a way to reduce rates of deformity.
Science/ Technology field
M. Ian Phillips, Ph.D.
University of Florida, College of Medicine, Physiology & Functional Genomics, Gainesville, Florida
Dr.
Ian Phillips is internationally known for his basic research on the brain
and renin-angiotensin system, and for his invention of potential new
therapies for chronic diseases using gene targeting approaches.
He has applied his 30 years of academic and medical research and teaching toward the study of heart and cardiovascular disease that affects millions of people. He has inspired and educated more than 3,000 medical students and 40 Ph.D. and minority students in research.
Dr. Phillips' recent work has been on developing reverse DNA to inhibit
proteins involved in hypertension, athlerosclerosis and cardiac disease.
The reverse, "antisense" DNA, is non-toxic, long lasting and effective
in reducing blood pressure and improving heart performance during heart
attacks. His current work is on "vigilant vectors" which are safe, stable
viral vectors. The vector is designed to wait in specific organs until
it is switched on when health conditions deteriorate. The vector then
provides a burst of protective genes until health is restored. Developed
to be switched on during hypoxia in heart attacks and prevent cell damage,
the "vigilant vector" concept applies equally to a vast range of chronic
diseases. His goal now is to encourage researchers to develop "vigilant
vectors" to treat diabetes, stroke, arthritis, renal disease, lung disease,
cancer, anemia and other chronic and fatal diseases affecting patients.
Ray Wu, Ph.D.
Professor of Biochemistry/Molecular Biology, Cornell University,Ithaca, New York
Dr. Wu,
a pioneer in genetic engineering, published the first method for sequencing
DNA, and has been a central figure in the related development of new cereal
crops for third world countries.
His DNA sequencing method used a novel, location-specific primer-extension strategy that made sequence analysis possible. His strategy has been incorporated into subsequent generations of rapid procedures, including the use of automated instruments, which has led to the decoding of entire genomes of many living organisms. Information on these sequences is essential for improving health care and increasing food security in the next several decades.
Based on his keen knowledge of DNA, genes and rice biotechnology, he has developed techniques to produce drought- and salt-tolerant transgenic rice plants. The same genes and methods have the potential to dramatically increase production of all major cereal crops, which is crucial for third world countries.
Beyond more than 300 original research papers in the areas of genetic engineering, medicine, plant biology, and plant biotechnology, he holds five patents covering genetic engineering methods. He has applied these findings to practical problems faced by billions of people throughout the world. He has also improved understanding between the United States and China by creating programs for scholarly inter-change in the biological sciences.
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