UO BIOLOGIST WINS DISCOVERY AWARD
Dec. 15, 1998
Contact: Ross West (541) 346-2060
EUGENE–University of Oregon biologist Charles Kimmel has won a 1998 Discovery Award. The Discovery Award, given annually by the Oregon Health Sciences Foundation, recognizes Oregon scientists who have made significant original contributions to biomedical research.
Kimmel, a member of the UO Institute of Neuroscience, is a leading developmental biologist who uses zebrafish to learn how early embryonic cells help form body tissues and organs. This work helps explain early development in vertebrate species–including humans.
At the UO since 1969,
Kimmel helped pioneer the use of the zebrafish as a laboratory tool. This work has brought many scientists, including a recent Nobel Prize winner, to his Eugene laboratory. His zebrafish techniques have been exported to more than 200 laboratories around the world.The tiny tropical zebrafish has become an increasingly important biomedical research tool. First cloned at the UO in the early 1980s, the zebrafish has been at the heart of UO genetics research ever since. Today, the UO has five major zebrafish laboratories staffed by 50 researchers.
The award will be presented to Kimmel at the Oregon Health Sciences Foundation’s annual dinner in Portland on Wednesday, Dec. 16.
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