Today, the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) announced a distinguished panel of judges who will evaluate nominations for the third annual Biotech Humanitarian Award and select the 2011 Honoree. BIO created the Award to recognize an everyday hero who has helped to heal, fuel and feed the planet through their work in or support of biotechnology. Nominations for the Award will be accepted online through the April 15, 2011 deadline.
“The Biotech Humanitarian Award is an important way that we can recognize a true innovator, who is leading and pushing the field of biotechnology to solve the world’s most pressing challenges and improve our everyday lives,” said BIO President and CEO Jim Greenwood. “I look forward to working with this distinguished panel of judges on the challenge of selecting just one honoree from an impressive group.”
The following thought leaders in science, advocacy and media have agreed to serve as judges for the Award:
· Dr. David Agus – Professor of Medicine, Director, USC Center for Applied Molecular Medicine, Director, USC Westside Cancer Center, University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine
· Dr. Yali Friedman – Managing Editor of the Journal of Commercial Biotechnology, author of Building Biotechnology and blogger at Biotech Blog
· Jim Greenwood – President and CEO, Biotechnology Industry Organization
· Dr. Lovell Jones – Director, Center for Research on Minority Health, University of Texas-MD Anderson Cancer Center and Founding Co-chair, Intercultural Cancer Council
· Rachel King – Chief Executive Officer and Founder, GlycoMimetics Inc.
· Robert Klein – Chairman, California Institute of Regenerative Medicine and 2010 Biotech Humanitarian Award Honoree
· Dr. Antonio Moreira – Vice Provost for Academic Affairs, University of Maryland Baltimore County
· David Rejeski – Director, Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies at the Woodrow Wilson Center
· Dr. Stephen Sherwin – Co-founder and Chairman, Ceregene, Inc. and Chairman of the Board, Biotechnology Industry Organization
· Dr. Ellen Sigal – Chair and Founder, Friends of Cancer Research
· H. Thomas Watkins – President and Chief Executive Officer, Human Genome Sciences
“Since its inception in 2009, the Biotech Humanitarian Award has honored two exemplary individuals, Dr. Jay Keasling and Robert Klein, who are leading ground-breaking initiatives in biotechnology to heal, fuel and feed the planet. They have set an extremely high standard for the Award and I look forward to working with this well-regarded group of experts to select an Honoree who demonstrates a similarly exemplary dedication to furthering the positive impact of biotech on society,” said Stephen A. Sherwin,M.D., BIO Board Chairman.
Klein, who was honored in 2010, for authoring and serving as the Chairman of California’s Proposition 71, the $6 billion “California Stem Cell Research and Cures” ballot initiative, joins this year’s panel of judges for the Biotech Humanitarian Award. Klein’s work supports research with a focus on pluripotent (embryonic) and progenitor stem cell research.
The Biotech Humanitarian Award and the $10,000 prize will be bestowed on the Honoree during the 2011 BIO International Convention, in Washington, DC on June 27-30, 2011.
Nominations can be made until 11:59 pm Eastern on April 15, 2011 via http://biotech-now.org/humanitarian-award-nomination.