Whitehead Researchers Recognized for Scientific Contributions

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (Nov. 18, 2003) — The American Society of Human Genetics presented two awards to scientists from Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research during its 53rd annual meeting, held recently in Los Angeles.

Whitehead Member David Page received the Curt Stern Award for major scientific achievement in human genetics in the last 10 years. Page was recognized for his notable contributions to the understanding of the evolutionary and molecular biology of the human Y chromosome and for his insights into the basic mechanisms of human germ cell development and function. Page also is a professor of biology at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an investigator with Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

Sjoerd Repping, a former graduate student in the Page lab at Whitehead, received the C. W. Cotterman Award for a paper deemed the best this year. The article, published in the American Journal of Human Genetics, focused on the genes involved in spermatogenesis and how deletions in the Y chromosome affect sperm production. Repping now is a scientist at the Center for Reproductive Medicine in Amsterdam.

News release provided by the American Society of Human Genetics.

Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research is a nonprofit, independent research and educational institution. Wholly independent in its governance, finances and research programs, Whitehead shares a close affiliation with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology through its faculty, who hold joint MIT appointments.