Press Releases

The University of Washington (UW) Medicine Alumni Association will honor four alumni June 7 at an evening reception at Bell Harbor International Conference Center. The event is part of the annual UW Medicine All-School Celebration planned for June 6 and 7.

Gerald Nepom, MD, PhD, Director of the Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason, will receive the Distinguished Alumni Award. The award recognizes an alumnus or alumna whose professional achievements and cumulative contributions have brought personal distinction, enhanced the profession, improved the welfare of the general public, and brought honor to the UW School of Medicine.

Dr. Nepom, an affiliate professor of immunology, completed both his medical degree and a PhD in biochemistry at the UW in the late 1970s. His research on mechanisms of autoimmune diseases led to the discovery of the major gene associated with Type 1 juvenile diabetes. Dr. Nepom is a leader in the areas of molecular immunology, autoimmunity, and immunotherapy, focused on building translational programs which cross multiple clinical disciplines and diseases. Dr. Nepom now leads an international cooperative effort to educate physicians and researchers about such new immune therapies, through his position as president of the Federation of Clinical Immunology Societies.