Medical Genetics Institute Director Honored With Lifetime Achievement Award

The Western Society of Clinical Investigation has honored David L. Rimoin, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Cedars-Sinai Medical Genetics Institute, with its 2011 Mayo Soley Award for lifetime achievement in medical research and mentorship.

The award was presented to Rimoin on Thursday, Jan. 27 at the society’s annual meeting with the Western Association of Physicians and the Western Society for Pediatric Research in Carmel, Calif.

Rimoin, who holds the Steven Spielberg Family Chair in Pediatrics, is internationally recognized for his expertise in medical genetics. His primary research has focused on medical genetics, specifically short stature and skeletal dysplasias – a group of disorders associated with abnormalities in the size and shape of the limbs, torso and skull – as well as heritable disorders of connective tissue. He is director of the International Skeletal Dysplasia Registry, the largest such registry in the world. Rimoin has written articles for more than 410 peer-reviewed publications and his book, Emery and Rimoin’s Principles and Practices of Medical Genetics, is in its fifth edition.

Among his achievements, Rimoin recently designed a unique genetic screening program to test for four common inherited disorders within the Persian Jewish population, including anesthesia sensitivity, a salt-losing disorder, a multiple hormone deficiency and hereditary muscle disorder.

“The Western Society of Clinical Investigation selected Dr. Rimoin from a number of truly remarkable candidates from across the western United States as the 2011 Mayo Soley Awardee based on his outstanding medical research achievement and mentorship over four decades,” said Hal Yee, M.D., Ph.D., immediate past president of the Western Society of Clinical Investigation.

The award is named for Mayo Soley, a co-founder of the Western Society of Clinical Investigation who was recognized by his peers not only as a distinguished clinical scientist but also as a kind and generous mentor to aspiring colleagues. The annual award honors the lifetime achievement of outstanding medical researchers who also are devoted to training junior investigators.

Before serving as director of medical genetics, Rimoin chaired the pediatrics department at Cedars-Sinai for 18 years. He was founding president of the American College of Medical Genetics and the American Board of Medical Genetics. He also has served as president of the American Society of Human Genetics, Western Society for Pediatric Research and Western Society for Clinical Research. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences and the Johns Hopkins University Society of Scholars. He was the recipient of the American Society of Human Genetics Leadership Award and the American College of Medical Genetics Lifetime Achievement Award.

Rimoin earned his medical degree at McGill University in Montreal and his doctorate in human genetics at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Finch University of Health Sciences awarded him an honorary doctorate of humane letters. He completed his internship and residency at Royal Victoria Hospital and Montreal Children’s Hospital. He also completed a residency, fellowship and doctorate degree in medical genetics at Johns Hopkins University.

The Western Society for Clinical Investigation was founded to cultivate and enrich medical research in the Western United States and Western Canada.