Skip to content

Home  |  JOIN  |  Contact Us  |  Member Portal

Meritorious Awards Accordions

Earl P. Benditt

 

2023 Recipient of the Earl P. Benditt Award

The NAVBO Meritorious Awards Committee and NAVBO Council are pleased to announce the selection of Miikka Vikkula, MD, PhD, as the 2023 recipient of the Earl P. Benditt Award, in recognition of his numerous contributions to our understanding of the genetic basis of lymphatic and vascular anomalies.  Dr. Vikkula is currently Full Professor of Human Genetics at the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium. Dr. Vikkula will present the Benditt Lecture, titled “From pathophysiology of vascular malformations towards therapeutic trials,” and receive the award, one of NAVBO's highest honors, at Vascular Biology 2023 in Newport, Rhode Island (October 15, 2023).

A native of Finland, Dr. Vikkula earned a medical degree at the University of Helsinki in 1993 and a PhD in Molecular Genetics under Leena Peltonen at the same institution the following year. Having previously been a visiting summer MD/PhD scholar with Darwin Prockop at Thomas Jefferson University, he returned to the US as a Research Associate with Bjorn Olsen at Harvard (1993-1997), funded in part by an NIH Fogarty Fellowship. He joined the de Duve Institute in Brussels as a Guest Investigator in 1997 and the faculty of the Catholic University of Louvain in 2000. Since then, he has risen through the ranks at both institutions and now holds the distinguished titles of Full Professor at the Catholic University, Member of the Directorate of the de Duve Institute, and Honorary Master of Research as designated by Belgium’s National Fund for Scientific Research (FNRS).

Dr. Vikkula’s research has focused on discovery of the genetic characteristics that drive development of a variety of vascular anomalies, notably Lymphedema and certain cancers. The work in his laboratory has combined study of primary patient specimens with the crafting of cell-based and animal models in which to probe mechanisms and pilot new approaches to treatment or prevention of vascular anomalies. This work has been facilitated by the application of cutting-edge exome sequencing and an advanced home-grown bioinformatics platform that integrates multiple in-silico analysis programs. Significant among discoveries in Dr. Vikkula’s lab was the ground-breaking recognition in 2009 that more than 50% of sporadic human vascular malformations are associated with somatic mutations in the angiopoietin receptor TIE2. This finding has led to targeting the over-activated endothelial TIE2-PI3K-AKT-mTOR signaling axis as a novel therapeutic strategy.

The impact of Dr. Vikkula’s work has been recognized by a number of keynote lectureships and awards, including the Eugène de Sommer Scientific Award from the Catholic University (2006) and FNRS’s Lambertine-Lacroix Prize (2010). In addition to funding from the FNRS, Dr. Vikkula has developed fruitful research collaborations supported by the NIH (with Joyce Bischoff) and the Leducq Network of Excellence. He has trained a host of doctoral students and published more than 250 peer-reviewed papers, reviews, and book chapters. Letters in support of Dr. Vikkula’s nomination for the Benditt Award note that his fundamental discoveries have “…allowed a better clinical distinction of lymph/vascular anomalies, making possible a basis for a renewed, extended classification…” system. Moreover, “…Prof Vikkula has laid the foundation for development of new therapeutics which are being tested in clinical trials. His contributions have therefore been of uttermost importance, not only for basic understanding of the healthy blood and lymphatic vasculature, but also for a range of conditions with genetic or acquired diseases for which treatments have been lacking. Thus, like Prof Earl P. Benditt, Prof Vikkula has truly broken scientific barriers with his research and contributions in the field of Vascular and Lymphatic Biology.”

Please join us at VB2023 at the Newport Harbor Island Resort this October to honor Dr. Vikkula as he receives this well-deserved award.

APRIL 15, 1916–MAY 27, 1996
EARL P. BENDITT AWARD PRESENTED BY NAVBO

This award recognizes an individual who has made an outstanding discovery or developed a concept that has been seminal to our understanding of vascular biology or pathology.

The recipient will receive a crystal plaque and a monetary award and will be asked to give a lecture at the Vascular Biology Meeting.

Recipients of the Earl P. Benditt Award include:

Judah Folkman

2023 Recipient of the Judah Folkman Award in Vascular Biology

The NAVBO Meritorious Awards Committee, the Scientific Advisory Board, and the NAVBO Council announce with pleasure the selection of Michael Potente, MD, as the recipient of the 2023 Judah Folkman Award in Vascular Biology.  This award recognizes outstanding contributions from vascular biologists who are at mid-career (within fifteen years of their first faculty appointment). Dr. Potente will present his Folkman Award Lecture, "Metabolic guidance of angiogenesis: principles and mechanisms," and receive the award at Vascular Biology 2023 in Newport, Rhode Island (October 15-19, 2023).

Dr. Potente received his medical degree from Goethe-University in Frankfurt, Germany, in 2003 and subsequently pursued a Cardiology residency as well as postdoctoral training under Stefanie Dimmeler at the Institute of Cardiovascular Regeneration at Goethe-University. Following several years of clinical cardiology practice, he became Max Planck Research Group Leader at the Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research in Bad Nauheim in 2012 and served as a Visiting Professor at the Max Delbrueck Center in Berlin from 2016-2019. Since 2020, he has held the position of Professor and practicing Physician/Cardiologist in the Berlin Institute of Health at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, and the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine.

Research in Dr. Potente’s Angiogenesis and Metabolism Laboratory at the Max Planck Institute is focused on understanding the role of intermediary metabolism in the regulation of angiogenesis, or how environmental cues affect vascular dynamics in health and disease. Of particular interest are the metabolic adaptations, governed by transcriptional mechanisms, required for endothelial cells to adopt a proliferative, migratory phenotype during an angiogenic response. This work has revealed that well-recognized pathways of endothelial cell differentiation and function, such as those involving Notch signaling, can be influenced in significant ways by the metabolic state of the cell. Dr. Potente’s work has been consistently supported throughout his independent research career by a variety of public and foundation sponsors and has earned him a number of awards in Germany and internationally. He has authored more than 50 research publications, reviews, and editorials to date.

A colleague writing in support of Dr. Potente’s nomination for the Folkman Award notes that he “…is innovative and has a very deep understanding of signaling pathways that guide vessel growth.” Further, beyond his impactful contributions to vascular biology, “…he is a role model for physician scientists how to combine strong basic science without losing the contact to patients.” Perhaps most importantly, another letter of support states that Dr. Potente is “…a most worthy and suitable candidate for the NAVBO Judah Folkman award. Like Folkman, Michael has a medical background, combined with a deep and fundamental curiosity and love for mechanistic discovery science.”

Please join us at VB2023 this October to honor Dr. Potente as he receives the Folkman Award in recognition of his accomplishments…and bright future…as a vascular biologist.

FEBRUARY 24, 1933 – JANUARY 14, 2008
JUDAH FOLKMAN AWARD IN VASCULAR BIOLOGY PRESENTED BY NAVBO

The Judah Folkman Award is a mid-career award. At the time of the Award, nominees will be between 3 and 15 years of their first faculty appointment (Assistant Professor or in non-academia, Staff Scientist or equivalent).  Therefore, a nominee's initial faculty appointment must be between 2007 and 2019 for the 2022 award.

In recognition of the breadth of Dr. Folkman's interests and his many contributions to vascular biology, the award will not be limited to the field of angiogenesis per se, but will encompass the full range of original research in vascular biology. Awardee will have made a significant impact on the field through his/her original research accomplishments.

Past Recipients include:

Steven M. Schwartz

Richard Hynes- 2022 Recipient of the Stephen Schwartz Award

NAVBO’s Meritorious Awards Committee is pleased to name Richard Hynes, PhD, as the 2022 recipient of the Stephen Schwartz Award. Named in honor of Dr. Stephen Schwartz, a revered and beloved member of NAVBO and co-founder of the society, the award recognizes a mentor who has contributed significantly to the successful career of scientists who have trained in their laboratory, as well as served as an exemplary mentor to graduate students and postdocs, and who has contributed to fostering an environment which facilitates both professional and personal growth. This year’s award is being supported by Barbara Schwartz and family. The award will be presented on Sunday, October 16, 2022, at the 22nd International Vascular Biology Meeting.

Dr. Hynes is currently the Daniel K Ludwig Professor of Cancer Research at MIT. He earned an undergraduate degree in Biochemistry at Cambridge University and completed his PhD in Biology at MIT in 1974. Following postdoctoral study at the Imperial Cancer Research Fund in London, he joined the biology faculty at MIT in 1975. He held leadership positions in Biology and MIT’s Center for Cancer Research and was a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator for over 20 years. He assumed the Ludwig Professorship in 1999.

Dr. Hynes has had an extraordinarily productive career as a life science researcher, evidenced by >400 publications, continuous grant support, and numerous awards (including the 2010 Earl P. Benditt Award from NAVBO). Beyond these achievements, Dr. Hynes has served multiple succeeding generations of scientists as a conscientious mentor, counting well over 100 graduate students, postdocs, and visiting scholars from across the globe among his trainees. The record of accomplishment of these trainees, many of whom are well-recognized leaders in their fields and of organizations like NAVBO, speaks volumes of his effectiveness as a mentor.

One of Dr. Hynes’s nominators, one of his former trainees, notes that “…Richard embodies what one could call an ideal mentor. Someone who allows room for growth and development, who is always honest yet never puts you down, someone who inspires to be a better scientist and a better person.” Moreover, “Richard's mentorship also extends to people he did not train directly. His goodwill, generosity, and empathy are examples of personhood that I strive to emulate and pay it forward.” Another former trainee observed that “From the beginning, he taught us to be critical thinkers and imaginative scientists. He never laid boundaries and allowed us all to make discoveries in a way that, I realize now, is uncommon for a scientist of his caliber.” “Even after leaving his lab, he would always continue to support and guide our successes as independent scientists with little to no tangible benefit to himself. That’s a very special quality and should be recognized and commended at the highest level.” The common threads running through the letters of support for Dr. Hynes included his fairness, unflappable demeanor, his attention to equity, and preparing female trainees to face the challenges they may encounter as women in science.

Please join us in Oakland this October to honor 2022 Schwartz Award recipient Dr. Richard Hynes.

JANUARY 1, 1942–MARCH 17, 2020
STEPHEN SCHWARTZ AWARD PRESENTED BY NAVBO FOR OUTSTANDING MENTORSHIP

This award recognizes a mentor that has contributed significantly to the successful career of scientists who have trained in their lab; who has served as an exemplary mentor to graduate students and postdoctoral fellows and contributed to fostering an environment which facilitates both professional and personal growth.

Recipients:

Springer Junior Investment

2022 SPRINGER JUNIOR INVESTIGATOR AWARD - NAVBO'S AWARD FOR JUNIOR FACULTY

Delphine Gomez, Ph.D.
University of Pittsburgh

Dr. Gomez presented her talk, H3K4me2 regulates microvascular SMC recruitment and coverage during hindlimb ischemia-induced angiogenesis, at the 22nd International Vascular Biology Meeting on October 16, 2022.

This award recognizes a Junior Faculty, who is within five years of their first independent investigator position or within five years of an independent research position in academia, government, or industry.  An applicant must be submitting and presenting an abstract at the upcoming annual meeting.  The award recipient will present their abstract in a 20-minute presentation usually within the Award Lecture session.

For the 2022 award, the first appointment needs to be January 1, 2017 or later.

Please note: A first independent investigator is defined as an Assistant Professor or in non-academia, Staff Scientist or equivalent.

THE SPRINGER JUNIOR INVESTIGATOR AWARD IS MADE POSSIBLE BY SUPPORT FROM ANGIOGENESIS

Past Recipients include: