Dr. Peter Harris Awarded International Prize for Research Advancement

Monday, May 05, 2003

ROCHESTER, Minn. — Peter C. Harris, Ph.D., a Mayo Clinic molecular biologist, has been awarded an inaugural Lillian Jean Kaplan International Prize for Advancement in the Understanding of Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD) to acknowledge his tireless efforts to find a treatment and cure for the disease.

Dr. Harris will receive a $50,000 prize, one of the most significant in the medical research field, when it is presented at the International Society of Nephrology World Congress of Nephrology in Berlin, June 9, 2003.

"Dr. Harris is an incredibly deserving person for this award," says Dan Larson, PKD Foundation president and chief executive officer. "His dedication to PKD research and incredible number of landmark discoveries make him one of the most respected doctors in PKD research today. It is gratifying to see him be recognized for his accomplishments."

PKD is more common than cystic fibrosis, sickle cell anemia, hemophilia, muscular dystrophy, Down syndrome and Huntington's disease combined, making it the world's most common life-threatening genetic disease. It affects 600,000 men, women and children in the United States and 12.5 million people worldwide.

PKD causes cysts to form on both kidneys, limiting their ability to filter toxins from the blood. PKD kidneys can grow to the size of a football and weigh as much as 38 pounds each. Dialysis and transplantation are the only treatments for kidney failure. There is no treatment or cure for PKD. Each child of a parent with PKD will have a 50 percent chance of inheriting the disease. Dr. Harris says the prize, which is sponsored by the the International Society of Nephrology (ISN) and the Kansas City-based PKD Foundation, will raise the profile of PKD as a serious genetic disease and draw more scientists into the study of this disorder.

"Winning this award will be an encouragement for me, my research team and other investigators in this field to make even greater strides toward understanding this disease more fully and to ultimately develop effective therapies," says Dr. Harris. "There is really exciting biology coming from study of the PKD-related proteins. There is so much to do to understand the normal function of these proteins, better understand the disease pathology and ultimately develop effective therapies."

At Mayo Clinic, Dr. Harris' research has included the identification of several genes related to PKD. He also has contributed a number of discoveries and characterizations of proteins and genes that has added to the body of knowledge related to PKD.

The Lillian Jean Kaplan International Prize was established through the generosity of Thomas Kaplan, Paris, France in honor of his late mother Lillian Jean Kaplan who died from PKD. The prize, to be awarded every other year, was created to stimulate interest in advancing PKD research, leading to new treatments and a cure for the disease. Dr. Jared Grantham of the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City was also selected to receive a prize.

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Contact:
John Murphy
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507-284-2511 (evenings)
e-mail: newsbureau@mayo.edu

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