Eleven Biotech Leaders Named to Biotech Humanitarian Award Judges Panel
BIO has named a distinguished panel of leaders to judge the third annual Biotech Humanitarian Award and select the 2011 Honoree. The nominations returned an excellent pool of innovators who are leading the way to heal, fuel and feed the planet through their work in or support of biotechnology. The judges have a tough road ahead!
"I am eager to work with this exceptional panel to select just one honoree from our impressive line-up of nominees. The 2011 Biotech Humanitarian Award nominees include scientists in medicine, agriculture and industry, as well as philanthropists and patient advocates," said Jim Greenwood, BIO's president and CEO. "The Biotech Humanitarian Award provides us with an opportunity to recognize an everyday hero, who is leading and pushing the field of biotechnology to solve the world’s most pressing challenges."
This year's judging panel consists of thought leaders who hail from a wide range of fields, including science, advocacy and media. Many of our judges are returning from previous years, in which they have aided in selecting two outstanding honorees, Dr. Jay Keasling and Robert Klein, setting a high standard for this year's Award.
Klein joins as a judge for the 2011 Award. He was honored with the Biotech Humanitarian Award 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. Klein's work supports research with a focus on pluripotent (embryonic) and progenitor stem cell research.
Other newcomers to the judge's panel are Rachel King, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of GlycoMimetics Inc., and H. Thomas Watkins, President and Chief Executive Officer of Human Genome Sciences.
Judges returning for another tour of duty:
- 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. Lovell Jones – Director, Center for Research on Minority Health, University of Texas-MD Anderson Cancer Center and Founding Co-chair, Intercultural Cancer Council
- 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. Antonio Moreira – Vice Provost for Academic Affairs, University of Maryland Baltimore County
- Dr. Ellen Sigal – Chair and Founder, Friends of Cancer Research
- 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
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 29, 2011.