Geneticist awarded American Heart Association research prize

Updated 11:00 AM November 10, 2003

Geneticist awarded American Heart Association research prize

By Karl Leif Bates
Life Sciences Institute

The American Heart Association (AHA) is awarding one of its highest accolades, the Basic Research Prize, to U-M geneticist Dr. David Ginsburg for discovering the molecular genetic defects that cause major bleeding disorders.

David Ginsburg (Photo by Martin Vloet, U-M Photo Services)

The association awards the prize annually to recognize "outstanding contributions to the advancement of cardiovascular science." The co-winner of this year's prize with Ginsburg is Dr. Shaun Coughlin of the University of California, San Francisco, who was cited for discovering cellular signaling mechanisms that regulate blood clot formation.

Ginsburg is the James V. Neel Distinguished University Professor in the departments of Internal Medicine and Human Genetics at U-M and a research professor in the Life Sciences Institute (LSI). He is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator and co-author with U-M genetics faculty Francis Collins and Thomas Gelehrter of one of the leading genetics textbooks for medical students. Despite running a full research program in his new lab at the LSI, Ginsburg still sees patients in the genetics clinic as well.

A citation accompanying his prize credits Ginsburg with "pivotal discoveries of the molecular genetic defects causing numerous major inherited bleeding and clotting disorders including von Willebrand Disease, findings that open the way to more effective strategies for prevention and treatment of these disorders."

Presenting the awards, AHA President Dr. Augustus Grant said: "By unlocking secrets with a complex biological system and finding flaws in its genetic structure, Drs. Coughlin and Ginsburg have provided the framework for effective new techniques to identify, control and prevent vascular disease." Each prize includes a $2,500 honorarium.

A native of Newburgh, N.Y., Ginsburg is a graduate of Yale University and Duke University Medical School. He joined the U-M medical faculty in 1985. He has led the way in deciphering the molecular genetic basis for von Willebrand Disease, the most common inherited bleeding disorder in humans, and several other serious blood and clotting diseases including thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura.

Ginsburg is receiving the prestigious prize this week during an opening session of the AHA's Scientific Sessions 2003 in Orlando. About 30,000 physicians, scientists, nurses and other medical professionals from the United States and abroad are attending the four-day research meeting, the largest of its kind in the world.

Geneticist awarded American Heart Association research prize

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