RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. -- When the 16 recipients of the Burroughs Wellcome Fund's Investigators in Pathogenesis of Infectious Disease award were notified that they had received the award, there was more good news. The award amount had increased to $500,000 over a five-year period from $400,000.

The Investigators in Pathogenesis of Infectious Disease awards are made to encourage aggressive, multidisciplinary approaches to investigating pathogenesis. BWF launched the program in 2002 and has made 58 awards for an investment of approximately $24.8 million in the careers of investigators who are working on understanding the interaction between the human host and the infectious agentbacterial, viral, fungal, or parasitic.

All awardees hold tenure-track faculty positions and must be nominated by degree-granting institutions in the United States or Canada.

"The constant threat of infectious disease is of global concern, BWF President Dr. Enriqueta Bond said. "Understanding the underlying principles of how the microbial world interacts with the human host is of paramount importance. We are pleased to play a role in the expansion of knowledge in this important scientific field.

Following are the 2007 award recipients, along with their institutions and research projects:

Benjamin K. Chen, M.D., Ph.D.
Mount Sinai School of Medicine
Dissemination of HIV through virological synapses

Andrew Darwin, Ph.D.
New York University School of Medicine
Mechanisms of Pseudomonas aeruginosa tolerance to secretin-induced stress during host infection

Michael R. Farzan, Ph.D.
Harvard Medical School
Parallel identification of obligate viral receptors

Britt Glaunsinger, Ph.D.
University of California-Berkeley
Global modulation of cellular gene expression by an oncogenic human herpesvirus

Karen J. Guillemin, Ph.D.
University of Oregon
Reg
'"/>

Contact: Russ Campbell
news@bwfund.org
919-991-5119
Burroughs Wellcome Fund
4-Jun-2007