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I AND RISIARCH
IOUNDAIIOI\
CONlN'lUNl( AllONS llElARl NIL^-T
l o a { n rN ( ) R l H t o R R t : \ P I N L S I I O A l r
t . , \ . t o L L A . ( . A L l l : o R N I Ae t 0 l 7
news
a r l 9: 1 5 13 : 9 0 ( ) r 6 1 9 - 1 5 5S 1I l
For Infornation
Andrel Jowers
llanager, Nqps Bureau
(6]9) 457-8290, 455-8133
FOR II'OIEDIATE Rtr,EASE
#031188-2
IA JOLIA, lttarch 11 -- The LuSus Foundation of America has awarded its
annual Distinguished Service Award to Dr. Frank J. Dixon' director sneritus
of the Research InstituLe of Scritrps C1inic.
llhreawardr given in recognition of Dixon's basic research of
autoinrrune diseasesr trnrticularly systonic lutrus erytherntosusr was
presented today at Scripps Clinic by Dr. Sheldon Cohen, associate director
of the lhtional Institute of Allerry and Infectious Disease.
First
Pitt$urgh
as trnthology delnrtnrent chairnan at the University of
and, for 25 years, as chaiffEn of the Research Institute
of
"Dr. Dixon played a pivotal role in developing and
establishing immrnopthology as a field of stuQr" said Dr. EVie Dennis,
Lupus Fourdation president. "His studies on lu1us have been at the cutting
Scriptrrs Clinic'
edge of irnnunological science.'
An innnrnologist and expert in viral infections, Dixon is a melnberof
the l{ational Acaderqrof Sciences and nurTerousprofessional organizations;
his research has covered a wide variefiz of hunnn disorders.
(l"1ore)
March II' 1988
Page 2
#031188-2
"Estrncially inportant has been his develo;ment of experinentaL npdels
of lu1usr" said Dennis. nThey have produced both an increased understanding
of the inmunotrnthogenesisof lutrus and served as the basis for protocols
for other investigators to pursue an array of experimental approaches in
this area of stud1z."
Dixon received his nredical degree from the UniversiLy of l.linnesota
and, after 10 years at the UniversiQz of Pittsburgh, joined Scrilps Clinic
in 1961. Under his leadership, the research branch of Scripps Clinic grer
frcrn a staff of 32 to more than Ir000, with an aruual research budget of
$60 million.
He has received 14 medical and scientific awards, including the
C,airdrer Foundation Interrntional Awardr the Albert Lasker I'ledical Researcb
Award and the Rou*Whipple Award of the American Association of
Pathologists. Through his research and msnbership on nulerous journal
boards and medical socieQz advisory connnittees, Dixon has always
had close ties with such national organizations as the Lulus Foundation.
editorial
Founded Ln 1977, the foundation is the najor voluntary heath
organization in the United States dercted to the fight against lupus, an
autoirrrune disease of unkncrrncause Lhat af fects npre than 500'000
Arericans. It has 100 ctraptersr including one in San Diego.
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