Raymond Dingledine, professor and chair of the Department of Pharmacology, has been awarded the 1995 American Epilepsy Society-Milken "Outstanding Basic Neuroscientist Award." One of the most prestigious individual honors in the field of epilepsy research, the award is accompanied by a prize of $50,000. Dingledine, a neuropharmacologist, is an international authority on brain chemistry and the initiation of electrical seizure activity in the hippocampus, a brain structure particularly vulnerable to seizures. Dingledine was one of four Milken award winners honored during a Dec. 4 luncheon at the annual meeting of the American Epilepsy Society in Baltimore.
Thanks to a commitment from the Lions Clubs of Georgia and the Georgia Lions Lighthouse Foundation Inc., a center focusing on pediatric eye diseases, has been created within the Emory Eye Center. The center, named the Georgia Lions Children's Eye Care Center at Emory University, will be the only comprehensive pediatric eye care center in the Southeast. Arlene Drack, assistant professor in the Department of Ophthalmology, will serve as medical director for the center.
Drack specializes in pediatric ophthalmology and is known for her work in the genetic origins of eye disease. She is interested in developing a lab at the center in order to provide advanced level genetics testing and research.
"At the moment we have to send blood samples out of state for diagnosing most inherited eye diseases," said Drack. "We hope to provide the full spectrum of eye services to children in Georgia right here at Emory and to become a national center for the study of certain disorders, such as Stickler syndrome and albinism."
"Many children's eye diseases are inherited, some are the result of premature birth and some are caused by trauma," said David Woolf, director of development for the Emory Eye Center. "This ongoing commitment from the Lions not only allows us to offer patients comprehensive treatment for all types of eye problems, but also encompasses plans to equip and staff a lab for testing, diagnosis and prevention of pediatric eye disease."
More than $500,000 will be needed just to equip the lab completely. The Lions have already obtained $50,000 from the Lions Club International Foundation, and the Georgia clubs will match that amount to fund the purchase of a DNA sequencer. The Lions will continue to raise funds with the goal of raising $100,000 per year.
The relationship between the Lions and Emory Eye Center goes back to the 1950s when the Lions Eye Bank was located at Grady Hospital. The Emory Eye Center building was built on the Emory campus in the early l980s, incorporating the eye bank with the Georgia Lions Research Lab.
"Emory has always had a strong partnership with the Lions," said Thomas M. Aaberg, director of the Emory Eye Center and chair of the Department of Ophthalmology inthe School of Medicine. "This new commitment strengthens our ties and helps us to fulfill a need that will be beneficial to Georgia and the Southeast."
The business school was recently selected to join The Washington Campus, an organization committed to educating business executives on the public policy process. Located in Washington, D.C., it draws upon the unique resources of the nation's capital to provide business-oriented education on the institutions and decision-making processes of the U.S. government. The business school was the 17th school chosen for membership.
"The Goizueta Business School is proud to join such a distinguished organization and is pleased to be able to add a valuable new dimension to business education," said Dean Ronald E. Frank. "A central problem for executives in this society is that their actions are often regulated by a government process with which they are too unfamiliar. The Washington Campus teaches executives and future business leaders more about the role of government in business, helping them to become more effective and influential in government-related situations."
Membership in the consortium provides several benefits for the business school. Most notably, it will be able to offer a special summer program in Washington, D.C., for its MBA students. The program emphasizes the governmental process and the range of considerations and constraints that bear upon the decisions of policy makers. Students examine the workings of legislative, regulatory, judicial and executive functions of government in order to understand how they, as managers, can build the critical public policy dimension into daily operations and corporate strategy.