NICHD Scientists Receive Honors

On hand at a recent meeting of the Association of American Physicians are (from l) Dr. Darryl Zeldin, NIEHS scientific director; Dr. Stephen Chanock, director of NCI’s Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics; Dr. Hannah Valantine, chief officer for scientific workforce diversity; Dr. Luigi Ferrucci, NIA scientific director; and NICHD’s Dr. Constantine Stratakis. Valantine, Ferrucci and Stratakis were elected to the association.

Two NICHD scientists have received distinguished honors. Dr. Constantine Stratakis, NICHD’s scientific director, was elected recently to the Association of American Physicians. Leader of the Division of Intramural Research and its section on genetics and endocrinology, he has identified genetic causes of several adrenal disorders, including Cushing syndrome.

Recent awardee Dr. George Giacoia

In addition, Dr. George Giacoia, a medical officer at NICHD, received the 2018 Sumner J. Yaffe Lifetime Achievement Award in Pediatric Pharmacology and Therapeutics from the Pediatric Pharmacy Association. The award is given annually in recognition of significant contributions toward the improvement of children’s health through pediatric pharmacology and therapeutics.

Giacoia has developed numerous programs during his 20-year career at NIH, most notably the U.S. Pediatric Therapeutics Initiative under the Best Pharmaceuticals for Children Act, which aims to prioritize therapeutic areas and advance clinical trials of on- and off-patent drugs that need further study in children.