Dr. Eric Kandel, University Professor and Howard Hughes senior investigator, was awarded the 1999 Wolf Prize in Medicine in Jerusalem on May 2. With the honor, a cash award of $100,000 was given to Dr. Kandel "for the elucidation of the organismic, cellular, and molecular mechanisms whereby short term memory is converted to a long term form." Established in 1978, the Israel-based Wolf Prize is awarded to outstanding scientists and artists "for achievement in the interest of mankind and friendly relations among peoples." Dr. Arnold Kriegstein, associate professor of Neurology, was awarded the Robert Leet and Clara Guthrie Patterson Trust award to support his research on dietary taurine and brain development. According to the trust, its purpose "shall be to extend financial aid to qualified organizations devoted to the advancement of medical science, particularly to organizations engaged in research relating to human diseases." Dr. Kriegstein also received NIH RO1 grants for research on "the role of intercellular signaling in neocortical development" and "glycine receptors and disorders of corticogenesis." Dr. Richard Mayeux, Gertrude H. Sergievsky Professor of Psychiatry and director of the Sergievsky Center, was elected to the Association of American Physicians at the association’s 112th annual meeting in April. Each year, this non-profit professional organization elects 55 individuals who have attained excellence in the advancement of scientific and practical medicine. Since its founding in 1885, the association has been a coalition of leading medical minds and a forum to promote friendship, create and disseminate knowledge, and provide role models for upcoming generations of physicians and medical scientists. Dr. John Michael Oldham, Elizabeth K. Dollard Professor of Clinical Psychiatry, Medicine and Law, and vice chairman of the Department of Psychiatry, was honored with the American Psychiatric Association’s (APA) Special Presidential Commendation at the APA’s annual meeting this May. Dr. Oldham received in award in recognition of leading the successful effort to create indicators of quality in psychiatry. Dr. Ann Marie Schmidt, P&S assistant professor of surgical science, was one of nine researchers to win the 1999 Clinical Scientist Awards in Translational Research from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund. Starting in July, Dr. Schmidt will receive her $750,000 grant over a period of five years for her research on "novel therapeutic strategy for the prevention and treatment of diabetic complications: antagonism of RAGE." The fund supports scientists who will strengthen translational research, which Burroughs Wellcome representatives define as "the two-way transfer between research and patient care." Dr. Margaret Wood, E.M. Papper Professor of Anesthesiology and chairman of the Department of Anesthesiology, has been elected to the Morton Society, a group composed solely of chairs of departments of anesthesiology. The goal of the society is to foster the academic development of the discipline of anesthesiology. In addition to being added to this group’s distinguished 15-person membership, Dr. Wood was the first president of the Association of University Anesthesiolo gists, the largest academic organization of anesthesiologists. Dr. Carey Waldburger, P&S assistant professor of microbiology, and Dr. Nickolas Papadopoulos, P&S assistant professor of pathology, received awards from the Irma T. Hirschl and Monique Weill-Caulier Medical Scholar Program. The trust supports talented biomedical scientists committed to careers in academic research and in particular those who exhibit an exceptional potential for high quality productive research.