PHILADELPHIA -- Ralph Brinster, a professor in the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, will be awarded the Gairdner Foundation International Award on Oct. 26 in Toronto.  Brinster is receiving the award for his "pioneering discoveries in germ line modification in mammals."

First awarded in 1959, the Gairdners have grown to be one of the most prestigious international awards in medical research, recognizing outstanding contributions by medical scientists worldwide whose work will significantly improve the quality of life.  Among the 279 Gairdner winners during the past 46 years, 65 have gone on to win the Nobel Prize.

Brinster's research career is noted for many achievements in the field of reproduction, genetics and stem cell biology.  In particular, Brinster has been a leader in the biology of germ cells, such as egg or sperm, whose genes are passed along to offspring.  Early in his career, he established techniques to grow and manipulate eggs and later used these methods to generate genetic changes in mice and other animals.  More recently, Brinster has created a technique of altering genes in spermatagonial stem cells, the cells that produce sperm.

"Ralph Brinster is truly a trailblazer in the field of gene modification in animals," Joan Hendricks, dean of the Penn School of Veterinary Medicine, said.  "His early findings helped usher in the era of transgenic research and its many medical and scientific benefits, while his current work is at the forefront of stem cell medicine."

Brinster has been part of Penn since 1956.  He received his V.M.D. in 1960 and his Ph.D. in physiology in 1964, joining the faculty at the School of Veterinary Medicine in 1965.  Since 1975, Brinster has been the Richard King Mellon Professor of Reproductive Physiology.

During his career at Penn, Brinster has received numerous honors, including membership in the National Academy of Sciences, the Wolf Prize in Medicine, the Charles-Leopold Mayer Prize (the highest prize of the French Academy of Sciences), the March of Dimes Prize in Developmental Biology and the Bower Award for Achievement in Science from the Franklin Institute.  He is one of 15 scientists selected for the Hall of Honor at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.   

Brinster is the sixth Penn faculty member to win a Gairdner since its inception in 1959, a list that includes Clay Armstrong (2001), Baruch S. Blumberg (1975), Britton Chance (1972), Daniel J. McCarty (1965) and John H. Gibbon (1960).

More information on the Gairdner Foundation can be found at www.gairdner.org

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