The Foundation for the National Institutes of Health Awards 2024 Trailblazer Prize for Clinician-Scientists to Vijay G. Sankaran, MD, PhD
July 24 2024 - 8:17AM
Business Wire
The Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH) has
awarded its seventh annual Trailblazer Prize for
Clinician-Scientists to Vijay G. Sankaran, MD, PhD, of Boston
Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Dr. Sankaran and
his team have made significant advances in the understanding of
human blood cell development in health and diseases, including
sickle cell anemia, cancer, and rare blood disorders.
“Dr. Sankaran’s pioneering studies in genetics and hematology
paved the way for a novel sickle cell disease treatment involving
the CRISPR gene-editing technology, becoming the first gene therapy
approved by the Food and Drug Administration,” said Julie
Gerberding, MD, MPH, President and CEO of the FNIH. “This approach
can serve as a blueprint for the development of other gene editing
therapies and represents the innovative thinking that’s a hallmark
of Trailblazer Prize recipients.”
The FNIH’s Trailblazer Prize recognizes the outstanding
contributions of early career clinician-scientists whose research
translates basic discoveries into novel approaches for diagnosing,
preventing, treating, or curing disease and disability.
Dr. Sankaran’s work has focused on the genes and mechanisms
underpinning blood cell development and disorders. He discovered
the function of a particular gene involved in blood production
that, when suppressed using the CRISPR gene-editing technology or a
technique known as RNA interference, could treat sickle cell
anemia, a painful blood disorder. He identified thousands of gene
variants involved in multiple diseases, including blood cancers,
and described the role of individual mutations in Diamond-Blackfan
anemia, a life-threatening blood disorder. Additionally, Dr.
Sankaran’s lab devised a method that can triple the production of
red blood cells, which could lead to better, cheaper methods of
manufacturing these cells for transfusion.
“I am deeply honored to receive the 2024 FNIH Trailblazer Prize,
which recognizes the tremendous work of my laboratory,” Dr.
Sankaran said. “Our research uses insights from human genetics to
gain a deeper understanding of blood cell production in health and
disease and develop better treatments for a range of
disorders.”
Dr. Sankaran, a hematologist/oncologist, is the Jan Ellen
Paradise, MD, Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. He
is in the Division of Hematology/Oncology at Boston Children's
Hospital and is an attending physician in the Dana-Farber/ Boston
Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, as well as an
associate member of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. Dr.
Sankaran was recently selected as a Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Investigator.
A jury of distinguished biomedical research leaders selected Dr.
Sankaran as the 2024 Trailblazer Prize recipient. Michael J. Welsh,
MD, PhD, Director, Pappajohn Biomedical Institute, University of
Iowa, chaired the Trailblazer Prize jury, which also included
Howard Y. Chang, MD, PhD; John I. Gallin, MD; Helen H. Hobbs, MD;
Timothy J. Ley, MD; Steven M. Paul, MD; and Christine E. Seidman,
MD.
The 2024 Trailblazer Prize includes an honorarium for Dr.
Sankaran, made possible by a generous donation from John I. Gallin,
MD, and Elaine Gallin, PhD, to the FNIH. The prize will be awarded
at the 12th Annual FNIH Awards Ceremony on the evening of October
29, 2024, in Washington, D.C. The 2024 Lurie Prize in Biomedical
Sciences and the Charles A. Sanders, MD, Partnership Award also
will be presented during the Awards Ceremony.
Dr. Sankaran will share his research at the 2025 AAP/ASCI/APSA
Joint Meeting in Chicago occurring April 25-27. This combined
annual gathering of the Association of American Physicians, the
American Society for Clinical Investigation, and the American
Physician Scientists Association features presentations of
high-level discoveries from distinguished researchers.
The FNIH gratefully acknowledges its Annual Awards Ceremony
Premier Sponsors, Fred and Donna Seigel, and our Visionary
Sponsors, Sherry and Alan Leventhal, Paul and Sandra Montrone, Dr.
Gilbert S. Omenn and Ms. Martha A. Darling, and Steven and Jann
Paul, MD.
For more information about the Trailblazer Prize, visit
fnih.org/TrailblazerPrize.
About the Foundation for the National Institutes of
Health
The Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH)
builds public-private partnerships that connect leading biomedical
scientists at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) with their
counterparts in life sciences companies, academia, patient
organizations, foundations, and regulatory agencies (including the
Food and Drug Administration and European Medicines Agency).
Through team science, the FNIH solves complex health challenges and
accelerates breakthroughs for patients, regardless of who they are
or what health threats they face. The FNIH contributes to the
development of new therapies, diagnostics, and potential cures;
advances global health and equity in care; and celebrates and helps
train the next generations of scientists. Established by Congress
in 1990 to support the mission of the NIH, the FNIH is a
not-for-profit 501(c)(3) charitable organization. For more
information about the FNIH, please visit fnih.org.
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Kathy Scarbeck FNIH 301-827-6648 kscarbeck@fnih.org