Boston University School of Medicine’s Richard Wainford was selected to receive the 2012 Dean Franklin Young Investigator Award, according to a Tuesday press release. This comes a day after BUSM’s Richard Saitz received the 2012 R. Brinkley Smithers Distinguished Scientist Award.
Wainford, an assistant professor of pharmacology, was recognized by the American Physiological Society at the annual Experimental Biology meeting, which extends through Wednesday, in San Diego.
As a part of the honor, BUSM received a $20,000 institutional grant in the form of a Data Sciences International instrumentation starter kit. Wainford received a $1,500 travel award to attend the meeting and present his work.
“My research would not be possible without the pioneering work of Dr. Franklin, [the award’s namesake,]” Wainford said in the release.
In honor of Franklin, the annual award is given to a junior faculty member or post-doctoral scientist pursuing physiological research. The faculty member also must be in the process of establishing an independent laboratory.
“Concepts originally formulated by Dean Franklin continue to serve as the inspiration behind many of DSI’s most technologically advanced physiological monitoring systems developed for today’s non-clinical research,” according to the APS website.
“It’s a great honor to receive this award in recognition of the in-vivo research being conducted in my laboratory investigating the mechanisms underlying the physiology of salt-sensitive hypertension,” Wainford said in the release.
Researchers will continue to study the role of G-alpha subunit proteins in long-term blood pressure neural regulation during elevated salt-intake, according to the release. Wainford and his team aims to enhance current understanding of the brain’s neural mechanisms involved in salt-resistant and salt-sensitive hypertension.
Saitz, a professor of medicine and epidemiology, was awarded by the American Society of Addition Medicine, according to a Monday press release. He accepted the award at the national Annual Medical-Scientific Conference in Atlanta.
The R. Brinkley Smithers Distinguished Scientist Award is given to an individual who has made efforts to advance the scientific understanding of alcoholism, according to the release. The award is a tribute to Smithers, whose philanthropy and dedication helped create a better understanding of alcoholism.
Saitz has led research on screening and brief counseling interventions to address unhealthy alcohol use related to problems as severe as addiction and has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed publications. He is a former president of the Association for Medical Education and Research in Substance Abuse and was elected by his peers from 2003 to 2012 for Best Doctors in America.
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