[Nfbmo] FYI: FW: News to Gary Wunder re Leslie Dana Gold Medal from St. Louis Society for the Blind & Visually Impaired

Wed Feb 18 01:11:59 UTC 2015

From: Jeff Dunlap [mailto:jmdpr2 at gmail.com] 
Sent: Tuesday, February 17, 2015 1:26 PM
To: info at nfbmo.org; Jeff Dunlap
Subject: News to Gary Wunder re Leslie Dana Gold Medal from St. Louis Society for the Blind & Visually Impaired

Napoleone Ferrara, M.D., Will Receive Leslie Dana Gold Medal

>From St. Louis Society for the Blind & Visually Impaired

FEBRUARY 17, 2015, St. Louis, Missouri...Napoleone Ferrara, M.D., a famed molecular biologist and Distinguished Professor of Pathology at the  <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_California,_San_Diego> University of California - San Diego Moores Cancer Center who pioneered new treatments for cancer and age-related macular degeneration, will be the 64th recipient of the internationally esteemed Leslie Dana Gold Medal.

Dr. Ferrara will be presented with the Leslie Dana Gold Medal by the St. Louis Society for the Blind & Visually Impaired in ceremonies on April 25, 2015. The Leslie Dana Gold Medal, an honor of global distinction, has been awarded by the Society since 1925 to many of the world’s most highly respected scholars and clinicians for commendable service in eyesight research, ophthalmology, vision sciences and social services.

Society President David Ekin, ACSW, LCSW, said, “Presentation of the Leslie Dana Gold Medal to Dr. Napoleone Ferrara will highlight his extraordinary career of achievement that includes developing treatments for cancers and development of a drug that is highly effective at preventing vision loss in intraocular neovascular disorders.”

Dr. James Bobrow, Chair of the Leslie Dana Gold Medal Committee and member of the Society Board of Directors, said, “The Society is proud to honor Dr. Ferrara for his many extraordinary achievements. He embodies the virtues of prominent physicians, researchers, scholars and teachers who have committed their lives to advancing progress for people who are visually impaired or blind or confronting serious illness.”

The Society will present the Leslie Dana Gold Medal to Dr. Ferrara at the 2015 Visionary Gala on April 25, 2015, at The Palladium St Louis. For event details, call the Society’s Christy McCutcheon at 314.968.9000.

Dr. Ferrara was born in  <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catania> Catania, Italy in 1956 and joined the UC-San Diego Moores Cancer Center in 2013 after a famed career at the biotechnology giant  <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genentech> Genentech. At Genentech he discovered  <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vascular_endothelial_growth_factor> VEGF—and made the first VEGF antibody—which suppresses growth of different tumors. These findings led to development of the first clinically available anti-angiogenesis inhibitor drug,  <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bevacizumab> bevacizumab(Avastin), which prevents the growth of new blood vessels into a solid tumor and which has become part of standard treatment for a variety of cancers. Dr. Ferrara’s work led also to development of ranibizumab ( <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucentis> Lucentis), a drug that is highly effective at preventing vision loss in intraocular neovascular disorders.

He earned his medical degree from the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery at the  <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Catania> University of Catania,  <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italy> Italy, in 1981, and joined Genentech in 1988. Dr. Ferrara completed his postdoctoral research at  <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_California,_San_Francisco> University of California - San Francisco.

At  <http://cancer.ucsd.edu/Pages/default.aspx>  Moores Cancer Center, Dr. Ferrara, a member of the National Academy of Sciences since 2006, serves as Senior Deputy Director for Basic Science and is a Distinguished Professor of Pathology in the UC San Diego School of Medicine, where he continues cancer drug research targeting angiogenesis.

The late Mr. Leslie Dana was very interested in efforts to prevent blindness and assist people who are blind.  To broaden interest in blindness research and social work, he established a gold medal fund in 1925, naming the Board of Directors of the St. Louis Society for the Blind & Visually Impaired as trustee with requirements that the gold medal be awarded in St. Louis.  The medal is given based on “Long, meritorious service for the conservation of eyesight research and instruction in ophthalmology, social service for control of eye diseases, or special discoveries in the domain of general science or medicine of exceptional importance in conservation of vision.”

Founded in 1911, the not-for-profit St. Louis Society for the Blind & Visually Impaired enhances independence, empowers individuals and enriches the lives of people who are blind and visually impaired and their families. Its caring, committed staff provides specialized Vision Rehabilitation, Orientation & Mobility, Adaptive Education, Assistive Technology, Children’s Services and Support Services. It provides older adults who are newly visually impaired or blind due to age-related eye conditions with home-based services, specialized agency services and community activities. It also renders services to school-age students in Illinois and Missouri. It is the only agency of its kind serving greater St. Louis, and the second oldest of its kind west of the Mississippi River.  

For information, visit the Society website at  <http://slsbvi.org/> http://SLSBVI.org/ or call Christy McCutcheon at 314.968.9000. Media relations contact: Jeff Dunlap at 314.409.5203.

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