Press Releases

Gerald Nepom, MD, PhD, director of Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason (BRI) and director of the Immune Tolerance Network, was named a recipient of the David Rumbough Award for Scientific Excellence by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) at its Annual Conference in Washington, D.C. Established almost 40 years ago by actress Dina Merrill in honor of her late son, David, the Rumbough Award is presented annually in recognition of outstanding achievement in diabetes research and service to JDRF.

"The scientists who received these awards represent the best and the brightest, and are the embodiment of the hope and commitment each and every one of us has that treatments will soon be a reality, and that a cure is inevitable," said Dr. Richard Insel, executive vice president of research at JDRF.

Founding BRI's immunology and diabetes research programs, Dr. Nepom is an internationally renowned immunologist and leader in autoimmune disease research. His leadership has made BRI the foremost Type 1 diabetes translational research and clinical trials center in the Pacific Northwest. His contributions to the diabetes field also include the identification and characterization of immune system genes associated with Type 1 diabetes and the use of "tetramer" biomarker technology.

Dr. Nepom previously served as a leader in several organizations, including the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Autoimmunity Prevention Centers and the JDRF Autoimmunity Centers of Excellence. He is immediate past president of FOCIS, the Federation of Clinical Immunology Societies, a worldwide organization dedicated to interdisciplinary research and education in translational immunology.