Massachusetts General Hospital’s talented and dedicated researchers are working to push the boundaries of science and medicine every day. In this series we highlight a few individuals who have recently received awards or honors for their achievements:
Deepak Balani, DMD, PhD, research fellow in the Endocrine Unit, has received the 2017 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR) Young Investigator Award. The award recognizes young investigators who submit top-ranking abstracts to an ASBMR Meeting. Balani received the award and a plaque at the ASBMR annual meeting in September.
“ASBMR is one of the top scientific societies primarily established to bring together clinical and experimental scientists involved in the study of bone and mineral metabolism. ASBMR organizes an annual meeting that invites top scientists from all over the globe. Getting chosen as one of the top abstracts and presenting my work in front of such a talented audience is very gratifying. For years Endocrine Unit of the Massachusetts General Hospital has been at the forefront of bone biology research. I am extremely happy that I have taken part in continuing this tradition.”
Alex Soukas, MD, PhD, of the Diabetes Unit and the Center for Genomic Medicine, has received the Glenn Award for Research in Biological Mechanisms of Aging. The award provides unsolicited funds to researchers investigating the biology of aging. The mission of the Glenn Foundation for Medical Research is to extend the healthy years of life through research on mechanisms of biology that govern normal human aging and its related physiological decline, with the objective of translating research into interventions that will extend healthspan with lifespan. Soukas will use this award to continue his work in understanding the genetic mechanisms of aging and aging-related diseases.
“I received notification of the award by email during a meeting with a Harvard PhD student in my laboratory. Normally I wouldn’t open email during a meeting, but saw the title “Glenn Award” and could not resist. There are few moments in science when one feels like cheering out loud in science, and this was certainly one of them. I was surprised, amazed, and humbled to have been given such a great honor as the Glenn Award. The funding from this award will jump start our research aimed at promoting healthy aging in humans.”
Marc Wein, MD, PhD, of the Endocrine Unit, has received the 2017 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research Rising Star Award for his research, “Dissecting the roles of class IIa HDACs in osteocyte biology.” This award provides funding to promising young scientists and physician-scientists in the bone field who have already been recognized by individual National Institutes of Health “K awards” and other similar international professional development programs.
“I was thrilled to receive the 2017 Rising Star Award from the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research. I’m an endocrinologist interested in bone biology and new therapeutics for osteoporosis. The ASBMR has recognized the immense value of additional grant support for junior faculty starting independent research programs. This generous award will allow us to pursue ambitious studies on bone cell function that will identify new genes and pathways relevant to osteoporosis drug development. I’m deeply grateful for this award and the recognition by the ASBMR.”
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