BOSTON – July 24, 2013 – The American Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC) will present C. Ronald Kahn, M.D., of Newton, MA, with the Wallace H. Coulter Lectureship Award at its 2013 Annual Meeting and Clinical Exposition in Houston, Texas on July 28. The Wallace H. Coulter Lectureship Award goes to an individual who has demonstrated a lifetime commitment to, and made important contributions that have had a significant impact on education, practice and/or research in laboratory medicine or patient care. Dr. Kahn was selected to receive this award based on his 40 year commitment to the field of diabetes and obesity research, in particular his significant work in insulin signal transduction and the mechanisms of altered insulin signaling in disease.
Dr. Kahn is Chief Academic Officer at Joslin Diabetes Center, Head of the Section on Integrative Physiology and Metabolism, and the Mary K. Iacocca Professor of Medicine at Harvard.
He joined Joslin in 1981. After serving as Research Director for two decades, he served as Joslin’s President from 2000-07. Under his leadership, Joslin’s research grew more than 20-fold, and clinical and educational activity tripled. He was named the Center’s first Chief Academic Officer in January 2012. In this role, Kahn oversees faculty recruitment, appointments, and promotions at the center, which trains about 150 doctors and doctoral fellows a year.
Dr. Kahn has received more than 60 awards and honors, including the highest honors of the American Diabetes Association, U.S. and British Endocrine Societies, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, European Association for the Study of Diabetes and the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists, and election to the National Academy of Science and Institute of Medicine. He has authored more than 550 original publications and 190 reviews and chapters.
His lab at Joslin has also made significant contributions to the understanding of obesity by showing that fat cells, called adipocytes, have different developmental origins and cellular functions that lead to risk of metabolic disease.
Dr, Kahn will present a lecture at the AACC Annual Meeting, and will be recognized as one of the top expert scientists and leaders in diabetes and obesity research. He will receive a commemorative plaque and a $10,000 honorarium.
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