Byrd Alzheimer's Institute CEO named Healthcare Hero
10.7.05
Contact: Jennifer Whelihan
813-866-1610 Ext. 4115
Email: jwhelihan@byrdinstitute.org
TAMPA, Fla (October 7, 2005) — The Johnnie B. Byrd, Sr. Alzheimer's Center & Research Institute announces Scientific Director and CEO Dr. Huntington Potter was awarded the 2005 Healthcare Hero Award — Healthcare Innovation & Research from the Tampa Bay Business Journal. Dr. Potter received the award at a gala dinner held October 6, 2005.
"I am humbled to receive this award on behalf of my colleagues at the Institute and the University of South Florida," said Dr. Potter. "Working together with researchers from around the state, we will find One Day, A Cure®."
Dr. Potter holds the Eric Pfeiffer Endowed Chair for Research on Alzheimer's Disease at the Suncoast Gerontology Center and is Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of South Florida College of Medicine. In April 2005, he was appointed to the Alzheimer's Disease Advisory Committee. Prior to joining USF in 1998, Dr. Potter studied, researched and taught for 30 years at Harvard University. He received his AB Cum Laude in Physics and Chemistry from Harvard College in 1972 and went on to earn his MA and Ph.D., also from Harvard, in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Dr. Potter then spent 13 years as a scientist and teacher on the faculty of the Neurobiology Department at Harvard Medical School.
Dr. Potter is credited with the discovery of the essential role of inflammation in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease and has been investigating the relationship between classical Alzheimer's disease and Down syndrome, which invariably leads to Alzheimer's by age 30-40. He is author of over 90 scientific articles and books, the holder of 15 U.S. and foreign patents, and sits on numerous scientific advisory and review committees in academia, industry and government.
In 1996, Dr. Potter received the American Society for Cell Biology Glenn Foundation Award for "Outstanding Research in Aging," and in 2000 the Kaul Foundation Award for Excellence for "Outstanding Achievements in the Field of Neurobiology and Gerontology." His electron micrographs of DNA are on permanent exhibit in the National American History Museum of the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C.
Established in 2002, the Johnnie B. Byrd, Sr. Alzheimer's Center & Research Institute is located on the grounds of the University of South Florida and is dedicated to the cure and prevention of Alzheimer's disease. The Byrd Institute is governed and operated by a Florida not-for-profit corporation that is organized solely for the purposes of the Institute.
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