According to award election committee chair William D. Dietrich, who is also neurology professor and scientific director of the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, Gusella was chosen for his commitment to research with clinical implications.
"The award is targeted at a translational scientist who has moved research from the bench to the clinic. Dr. James Gusella is one of the few scientists to do this," Dietrich said.
Dr. Bernard J. Fogel, dean emeritus of the University of Miami School of Medicine, said Gusella was the natural choice for the award.
"The overwhelming choice was Dr. James Gusella for his work in Huntington's disease and the implications of his research for us in the medical world to diagnose other neurological diseases," Fogel said.
Award founder Lois Pope said her personal experience with neurologic diseases provided the motivation for the award.
"Neurologic disease has affected my family and friends, and it is in their honor that I have made the neurosciences my cause," Pope said.
Gusella will deliver the keynote address on ethics in neurogenetics tomorrow during a symposium at the University of Miami, discussing the genetics of Huntington's disease.