VA's Waxman and Starzl Receive Middleton and Diamond Awards

May 5, 2009

The prestigious William S. Middleton Award and Secretary's Diamond Award were recently presented by Secretary Shinseki to two of VA's most outstanding research pioneers. The 2008 Middleton Award was presented to Stephen G. Waxman, MD, PhD, in recognition of his extraordinary contributions to the understanding of the causes and treatment of spinal cord injury, multiple sclerosis, and chronic neuropathic pain. The Diamond Award was presented to Thomas Starzl, MD, PhD, for his lifetime achievement in transplantation medicine. Dr. Waxman, who has worked as a VA clinician-scientist for more than 30 years, and Dr. Starzl, who devoted nearly 50 years of his career to VA, have both made exceptional contributions to the health and care of Veterans and Americans in general.

Dr. Waxman has dedicated himself to bridging science and medicine, building on the "genomic revolution" to develop new strategies for restoring function after spinal cord, nerve, and brain injury. Among his findings are a number of seminal discoveries about the basic molecular biology of sodium channels and their involvement in normal and neurological disease states.

Dr. Starzl has come to be called the "Father of Transplantation" by revolutionizing the field of organ transplantation. His research on the basic science of immune regulation and transplantation immunology, as well as immunosuppressive drugs, led to his discovery of methods to prevent rejection of transplanted organs.