Dr. Reginald R. Cooper, UI CCOM professor and emeritus head of orthopaedics at UI Hospitals and Clinics, will receive a prestigious national award for his lifetime contributions to the field of orthopaedics. The American Orthopaedic Association-Zimmer Award for Distinguished Contribution to Orthopaedics will be presented to Cooper in June during the association's annual meeting in Huntington Beach, Calif.

The $50,000 award recognizes outstanding leadership in the advancement of the art and science of orthopaedics. It is bestowed on individuals who effectively confront issues or challenges facing the specialty and honors those who have enhanced and shaped the specialty. It recognizes sustained and substantial contributions and leadership to orthopaedic surgery through clinical, educational, research or other meritorious means.

Cooper is only the fourth recipient of the AOA-Zimmer Award, and the second from the UI to receive it. The previous UI winner was Dr. Ignacio V. Ponseti, UI professor emeritus of orthopaedics, who received the award in 2003.

A UI faculty member since 1962, Cooper served as head of the UI Department of Orthopaedic Surgery for 26 years. During his career he has served as president of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, the largest society of orthopaedic surgeons in the world. He also presided over the Orthopaedic Research Society and has received the Kappa Delta Award for outstanding orthopaedic research.

Cooper acted as chairman of the research advisory board and the medical advisory board for the Shriner's Hospitals for Children. He served on the advisory council of the National Institutes of Health for the Institute of Arthritis, Metabolic and Digestive Diseases, and was chairman of the board of trustees of the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery.

Dr. Al Klingelhutz, microbiology, recently served as a co-chair of the Transformation and Carcinogenesis session of the 2004 Molecular Biology of DNA Tumor Viruses Conference in Madison, Wis. Also, three abstracts from his laboratory were chosen for oral presentations at the meeting.

Dr. Garry R. Buettner, radiation oncology, chaired the special emphasis panel reviewing technology center grants for the NIH in September.

Dr. Kevin Ault, obstetrics and gynecology, reports that the UI is the leading site for the study “Herpevac Trial for Women,” a vaccine trial sponsored by the National Institutes of Health. Ault and his team enrolled the UI’s 200th patient in September, and hope to eventually enroll 500 women. Overall enrollment for the trial is 7,500 patients at 30 sites around the country.

Dr. Nancy Stellwagen, biochemistry, is co-editor of the recently published book "Nucleic Acids: Curvature and Deformation."

Theresa Hegmann, physician assistant program, was presented the "Rising Star Award" in recognition of her contribution to physician assistant education through excellence in teaching from the Association of Physician Assistant Programs.

Dr. Daniel T. Tranel, professor of neurology, will serve as the invited chairperson of the NIH Cognitive Neuroscience Study Section, Center for Scientific Review, from now through June 2006.

Dr. Douglas Spitz, radiation oncology, presented a seminar on cellular stress biology at Roswell Park Cancer Institute on Sept. 30. He also served on the special study section "DNA Damage and Mutagenesis" for the NIH and NCI.

Dr. Prabhat C. Goswami, radiation oncology, was awarded a $20,000 pilot grant from the Environmental Health Sciences Research Center. The one-year grant, "Polychlorinated Biphenyls, Intracellular Antioxidants and Cellular Proliferation," will test the hypothesis that polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) affect reactive oxygen species in the cell, thus changing the reduction/oxidative balance and initiating cellular proliferation.

Dr. Richard Tyler, professor of otolaryngology and speech pathology and audiology, is directing the largest clinical trial for tinnitus ever funded by the government and is supported by a five-year, $1.7 million grant from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, part of the NIH. The study examines approaches that combine low-level background sounds, including music, with a new, extensive counseling protocol.The low-level background sound decreases the prominence of the tinnitus, but is not too loud to be annoying. The counseling is designed to help with concentration, hearing and sleep problems caused by the ringing.