May 15, 1998

Two U of A researchers win 1998 Prix Galien for Research

Dr. Lorne Tyrrell

The 1998 Prix Galien Canada for research has been awarded to Dr. David L. J. Tyrrell, dean of medicine and oral health sciences and Dr. Morris J. Robins, adjunct professor chemistry.

The two will be recognized for their significant contribution to the understanding of the hepatitis B virus and to the development of an efficient treatment for the dreaded disease which is the ninth cause of death in the world.

Tyrrell and Robins have developed two groups of compounds that inhibit the hepatitis B virus replication. This contribution is significant considering that 300 and 350 million individuals worldwide carry the hepatitis B virus. The two also provided BioChem Pharma with the key elements to apply for a patent for the treatment of the hepatitis B virus with lamivudine.

Dr. Tyrrell and other researchers in his laboratory were the first to discover a combination chemotherapy for hepatitis B chronic infections and cases of lamivudine resistance.

A gala ceremony was held at the Toronto Airport Marriott Hotel on Thursday, May 14, 1998 at 6:30 p.m. in honor of this year's recipients.

The Prix Galien consists of two areas of recognition: One honors a laboratory or company that has introduced on the market a medication which represents a major therapeutic breakthrough. The other rewards the work of a researcher or a team of researchers who provide a vital contribution to pharmaceutical research.

Dr. Robins, is chemistry professor at Brigham Young University, Utah and adjunct professor at the University of Alberta.

KANASEWICH HONORED WITH LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

The Canadian Association of Physicists (CAP) has awarded its premier medal, the 1998 CAP Medal for Lifetime Achievement in Physics, to Dr. Ernest R. Kanasewich, U of A professor emeritus, for his internationally lauded research in the field of geophysics. Kanasewich's major research activity involved imaging of the earth's crust using seismic waves. His development of reflection seismology led to the ability to achieve the very high resolution crusted structure maps necessary in geophysical exploration today. He is also one of the leading pioneers in the development of seismic tomography, and in its application to investigations of oil sand deposits. He has played a leading role in Canada's national geoscience project, LITHOPROBE.

Kanasewich has been a faculty member at the U of A since 1963 and was chairman of the Department of Physics from 1990 to 1996. He was also director of the Institute of Geophysics, Meteorology and Space Physics from 1991 to 1992.

Kanasewich was previously elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 1975 and has been granted honorary life membership in the Society of Exploration Geophysicists. He was awarded the

J. Tuzo Wilson Medal of the Canadian Geophysical Union in 1988 and named McCalla Professor of the University of Alberta in 1989.

KOSTOV WINS INFORMATION PROCESSING ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Dr. Aleksandar Kostov has been awarded the Canadian Information Technology Innovation Award by the Canadian Information Processing Society (CIPS).

Kostov, noted for his development of brain-computer interface technology, was lauded for demonstrating the kind of creative vision the award is meant to highlight. The society noted that the impact of the brain-computer interface technology he developed upon the lives of people with severe disabilities cannot be overstated. Simply put, the technology replaces the computer mouse with an on screen cursor that can be manipulated by brainwaves transferred through electrodes into a computer. The result is that people with severe disabilities can directly control their environment or communications with thought or speech.

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