NIH’ers Win HHS Departmental Awards
Three National Cancer Institute (NCI) researchers are among winners of the 2024 HHS Departmental Awards, the highest awards issued by the department. They were honored May 7 in the Great Hall of the Humphrey Bldg.
Every year, HHS’s Departmental Awards honor HHS employees and teams who distinguished themselves in the previous year. These employees faced and overcame some of the world’s biggest and most pressing health-related challenges as they worked to enhance the health and well-being of all Americans.
Dr. W. Marston Linehan received the Secretary’s Award for Distinguished Service, the highest honor award granted. He is a senior investigator in NCI’s Urologic Oncology Branch. Linehan and his group reported the discovery of the VHL gene, the gene for the hereditary form of clear cell kidney cancer, von Hippel Lindau, as well as the common form of sporadic, non-familial clear cell kidney cancer.
Dr. Brigitte Widemann received the Secretary’s Award for Meritorious Service, the second highest honor award granted. It recognizes HHS employees for their achievements and for inspiring others to improve their performance. Widemann is chief of NCI’s Pediatric Oncology Branch. Her leadership and support of branch investigators have directly contributed to development of the next generation of outstanding physician-scientists and enabled many additional important discoveries by her colleagues.
Dr. Andre Nussenzweig received the HHS Career Achievement Award, which recognizes HHS employees with 10 or more years at HHS for their dedication to the department. Nussenzweig is chief of the Laboratory of Genome Integrity in NCI’s Center for Cancer Research. One of the world’s leading authorities and contributors to the study of DNA repair, Nussenzweig has made groundbreaking advances in understanding molecular pathways that maintain genome stability.
This year, the Office of Human Resources at HHS received more than 120 nominations from which leadership selected 32 individual and team recipients.