Transposagen Co-founder Receives Prestigious Allan Award from the American Society of Human Genetics

Nov. 20, 2008 - PRLog -- Transposagen Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. headquartered in Lexington, KY has announced that its co-founder and current Scientific Advisory Board member, Dr. Haig H. Kazazian, Jr., has received the Allan Award, the major award given by the American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG).  The Allan Award was established in 1961 in memory of William Allan (1881-1943), one of the first American physicians to conduct extensive research in human genetics. It is presented annually to recognize substantial and far-reaching scientific contributions to human genetics, carried out over a sustained period of scientific inquiry and productivity.

The Allan Award consists of an engraved medal and an award of $10,000 that was presented to Dr. Kazazian at the 58th Annual Meeting of the ASHG. The meeting, held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on November 11-15, 2008, attracted thousands of the world’s top scientists and clinicians in the human genetics field. Dr. Kazazian, a professor of genetics at the University of Pennsylvania, addressed the ASHG meeting participants, discussing his career in human genetic research and the mobile DNA work currently being done in his laboratory.  Dr. Kazazian mentioned some of his laboratory’s major achievements over the course of his career, including the determination of the genetic basis of a group of blood disorders called the thalassemias. His group coined the term “haplotype” in DNA analysis. A manuscript of Dr. Kazazian’s Allan Award Address will be published in an upcoming issue of the American Journal of Human Genetics (AJHG).

Dr. Kazazian also discussed his laboratory’s discovery of active mobile DNA in the human genome, a finding that would eventually lead to a technology being developed by Transposagen, which can be used in the discovery of drugs to treat many human diseases. Transposagen uses a variety of mobile DNA technologies to create their MutaRatTM Knockout Models, laboratory rats with a single gene disrupted to mimic a human disease.  These unique animal models are used by academic and pharmaceutical researchers for drug discovery and development. Knockout rats are available through the Knock Out Rat Consortium (http://www.knockoutrat.org).

Dr. Kazazian is a world-renowned human geneticist who is presently the Seymour Gray Professor of Genetics at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Kazazian’s career started as an undergraduate at Dartmouth College followed by a medical degree from Johns Hopkins University (JHU). He then trained in Pediatrics at the University of Minnesota and Johns Hopkins. After genetics research training at JHU and the National Institutes of Health, he joined the faculty in Pediatrics at JHU in 1969. He rose through the academic ranks to Professor in 1977, and became Director of the Center for Medical Genetics in 1988. In 1994, he left JHU for the Chair of Genetics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and served in that capacity until 2006. Dr. Kazazian’s first ever scientific publication was in the prestigious journal Science. He has followed that up with over 350 additional publications, many in top journals.

“For the 40 years that I have attended the ASHG meeting, I have been impressed with the significance of the Allan Award in honoring research accomplishment in Human Genetics. I am humbled and very appreciative of the recognition,” said Dr. Kazazian.  “Progress in human genetics takes an army and I have been blessed with many outstanding fellows, graduate students, postdocs, and research assistants over the years.  I thank them all for their many contributions. It’s been a wonderful journey that isn’t over yet!”

Dr. Kazazian was also named as this year’s Allan Award recipient because of his active involvement in training and mentoring the next generation of basic science and clinical human genetics researchers. Seven of his former students were previous recipients of ASHG Student Awards. Indeed, Dr. Eric Ostertag, the CEO of Transposagen Biopharmaceuticals, Inc., did his doctoral work in Dr. Kazazian’s laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Ostertag’s doctoral work on mobile DNA was previously awarded the Predoctoral Basic Science Award from the American Society of Human Genetics and was related to the development of some of Transposagen’s breakthrough technology. Dr. Blair Madison, the VP of Research for Transposagen, also worked closely with the Kazazian laboratory during his post-doctoral work.

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About Transposagen Biopharmaceuticals

Transposagen Biopharmaceuticals is a privately held biotechnology company headquartered in Lexington, KY. The company is dedicated to providing unique animal models of human diseases for drug discovery and development. The production of animal models is a $1.2 billion/year market and is expected to grow 12% annually through 2010. For more information, visit http://www.transposagenbio.com.

About the American Society of Human Genetics

The American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG) is the primary professional membership organization for human genetics specialists worldwide. The nearly 8,000 members of ASHG include researchers, academicians, clinicians, laboratory practice professionals, genetic counselors, nurses and others involved in or with a special interest in human genetics. The Society’s mission is to serve research scientists, health professionals and the public. For more information about ASHG, please visit http://www.ashg.org/.