FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ON March 24, 2006
Harvard Medical School Professor to Receive Sidney Carter Award for Work in Eye Movement Disorders in Children
St. Paul, Minn., -
Elizabeth C. Engle, MD, associate professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School, will be honored with the Sidney Carter Award in Child Neurology for her work in the genetics of eye movement disorders. Engle will receive the award during the American Academy of Neurology’s 58th Annual Meeting in San Diego, held April 1 – 8. Presented by the AAN and the AAN Foundation, and funded through an anonymous donor, this award recognizes outstanding work in the field of child neurology/developmental neurobiology. This award salutes Dr. Sidney Carter for his work as one of the premier child neurologists in the United States. Engle was recognized for her lab’s work towards understanding the genetic causes of a series of complicated forms of strabismus (squint), in which eye movement in at least one direction is limited or paralyzed. They have defined and mapped new strabismus syndromes, and identified genes mutated in a series of these disorders. In the process, they have discovered that these forms of strabismus result in mutations in genes expressed very early in gestation that are necessary for the development and connectivity of the neurons in the brainstem that normally control eye muscles. Her work ties together long-standing questions in child neurology and ophthalmology with new advances in developmental biology. “It is an honor to receive the Sidney Carter Award in Child Neurology and to be recognized, together with the members of my laboratory, for our ongoing work on the genetic basis of congenital oculomotility disorders,” said Engle. The 58th Annual Meeting takes place in the San Diego Convention Center. It is the world’s largest annual gathering of neurologists.