NIGMS Office of Communications and Public Liaison301-496-7301
Three new members recently joined the National Advisory General Medical Sciences Council. They are:
Gail E. Besner, M.D., the H. William Clatworthy, Jr. Professor of Surgery and chief of pediatric surgery at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, and a professor of surgery and pediatrics at the Ohio State University College of Medicine, also in Columbus. Her clinical interests include neonatal surgery, necrotizing enterocolitis and pediatric burn care. Her research focuses on heparin-binding EGF-like growth factor, which she discovered in the early 1990s. Besner earned a B.A. in biochemistry from Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., and an M.D. from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine in Ohio. She did residencies at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Mass., and the Women & Children’s Hospital of Buffalo.
Alan “Rick” Horwitz, Ph.D., the Harrison Distinguished Professor of Cell Biology and associate vice president for research and bioscience programs at the University of Virginia School of Medicine in Charlottesville. His research focuses on the fundamental biological processes of cell adhesion and migration. Horwitz earned a B.A. with honors in chemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Ph.D. in biophysics from Stanford University.
Richard L. Lalonde, Pharm.D., vice president and global head of clinical pharmacology at Pfizer Inc., in Groton, Conn. His research in academia and industry over the past 30 years has been focused on the quantitative application of pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic principles to the optimal development and utilization of new drugs in patients. Lalonde earned a B.S. in pharmacy from the University of Toronto in Ontario and a Pharm.D. from the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.
The council, which meets three times a year, is composed of leaders in the biological and medical sciences, education, health care and public affairs. Members serve 4-year terms and perform the second level of peer review for grant applications assigned to the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), part of the National Institutes of Health. Council members also offer advice and recommendations on policy and program development, program implementation, evaluation and other matters of significance to the mission and goals of NIGMS.
