NEW ORLEANS, LA - The Selection Committee for the 2009 Alton Ochsner Award Relating Smoking and Disease is pleased to announce the selection of its 24th Annual Award to Steven A. Belinsky, PhD. Dr. Belinsky is the Director of the Lung Cancer Program, Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute, Co-Director of the Cancer Epidemiology and Control Program for the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, and Associate Director of the Johns Hopkins University Lung SPORE.
Dr. Belinsky received his undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and did his Postdoctoral Fellowship with the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences of the National Institutes of Health. Throughout his investigative career, Dr. Belinsky has focused his attention on the longstanding effects of cigarette smoking on the genetic and molecular changes in cells that produce lung cancer. His fundamental research studies have been applied to patient care resulting in the early detection of cancer in biological fluids. This research work has made it possible to identify lung cancer cells early in the disease in the sputum of patients with a history of cigarette smoking. Hopefully, his work will permit early detection of the disease resulting in earlier treatment of these patients. Prior recipients of the Ochsner Award have been honored for work demonstrating critical relationships between tobacco smoking and nicotine addiction with: lung cancer and other malignancies; lung function and emphysema; and with other diseases including atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease. The Award is named for the late Doctor Alton Ochsner, the first person to recognize that cigarette smoking is the major factor underlying lung cancer. The Alton Ochsner A ward is supported by the Ochsner Clinic Foundation and recognizes outstanding scientific achievements that have provided pivotal insights into the fundamental biological and clinical mechanisms that relate tobacco consumption to human disease The Award winner receives a cash award, a special medallion, and a scroll which will be presented to the honoree at the Annual Convocation of the American College of Chest Physicians during its scientific sessions to be held in San Diego, CA on November 1, 2009.
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