Dr. Theodore Friedmann is a longtime faculty member at UC San Diego and a pioneer in gene therapy. / photo by Nelvin C. Cepeda * U-T San Diego Dr. Theodore Friedmann, a pioneer in the booming field of gene therapy, has been named a 2015 winner of the prestigious Japan Prize. A pediatrician-turned-researcher at UC San Diego, Friedmann is renowned for demonstrating in the lab that it is possible to correct a genetic defect by adding a functional gene to defective cells, a feat he and colleagues accomplished in 1968. Since then, Friedmann has been guiding the young science through controversies, ethical challenges and setbacks. Friedmann shares the prize in "medical science and medicinal science" with Dr. Alain Fischer of the Necker Hospital in Paris, France. Fischer helped demonstrate gene therapy's clinical ability to treat a genetic immune deficiency that makes patients extremely vulnerable to infections. Along with the recognition, Friedmann and Fischer will split a $416,600 award, a certificate and gold medal. There's also the prospect of future recognition: several Japan Prize winners have gone on to win the Nobel Prize. Friedmann is known not only as a scientist who demonstrated gene therapy is possible, but as a thinker … Continue reading →

Contact Information Available for logged-in reporters only Newswise Theodore Friedmann, MD, professor in the Department of Pediatrics at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine was named today one of three recipients of the 2015 Japan Prize, a prestigious international award honoring laureates whose original and outstanding achievements in science and technology have advanced the frontiers of knowledge and served the cause of peace and prosperity for mankind. Friedmann is being recognized for his pioneering research and contributions to the development of gene therapy, a new field of medicine which in significant ways originated at UC San Diego. The sponsoring Japan Prize Foundation describes Friedmann as the father of gene therapy. Sharing the 2015 Japan Prize in the field of medical science and medicinal science with Friedman is Alain Fischer, MD, PhD, director of immunology at the Necker Hospital in Paris, France. Fischer is credited with demonstrating the clinical efficacy of gene therapy by successfully treating children suffering from a severe genetic disorder that renders them extremely vulnerable to infections. The third 2015 Japan Prize laureate is Yutaka Takahasi, PhD, professor emeritus at the University of Tokyo, who is being honored in the field of resources, energy and social … Continue reading →