Department of Pathology Pioneer in Malaria Research is Recipient of 2008 Sabin Gold Medal

Long-time Department of Pathology member Ruth Nussenzweig, M.D., Ph.D., has been selected as the recipient of the 2008 Albert B. Sabin Gold Medal Award. The Sabin Gold Medal is awarded annually by the Albert B. Sabin Vaccine Institute to recognize extraordinary accomplishments in vaccine discoveries or vaccine use. The medal commemorates the abiding legacy of Dr. Sabin (1906 - 1993), who developed the oral polio vaccine.

This honor also celebrates a shared history of affiliation, since Albert Sabin received his M.D. degree from New York University Medical School in 1931 and was trained in pathology, surgery, and internal medicine at Bellevue Hospital before he turned his attention to a research career on infectious diseases.

In their announcement, the Institute noted that Dr. Nussenzweig "has been a world leader in epidemiology research for over 40 years. In 1967, Dr. Nussenzweig discovered that protective immunity against malaria can be induced by irradiating the parasite that causes malaria. This and subsequent discoveries such as Dr. Nussenzweig's identification of malaria's cloaking gene have paved the way for several malaria vaccines, at least three of which are currently in clinical trials. Dr. Nussenzweig has been on the faculty of New York University's School of Medicine since 1965 and has been a professor in the Department of Preventive Medicine since 1972.

"She has held vital positions in the school such as head of the Division of Parasitology as well as professor and chairperson of the Department of Medical and Molecular Parasitology. Currently she is the C.V. Starr Professor of Medical Parasitology and Pathology. Dr. Nussenzweig has served in the Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee of the World Health Organization and The Pew Foundation, among other groups. The author of more than 200 peer-reviewed publications, she also served on the editorial boards of several journals, including Parasitology Research and Zeitschrift für Parasitenkunde."

Dr. Nussenzweig is currently collaborating on a new viral vector for P. falciparum malaria with the Pasteur Institute in Paris.