2008 BIOCOM Life Sciences
Heritage Award
John C. Reed
Award for Contributions to the Life Sciences Presented in San Diego on 31 March

The Chemical Heritage Foundation and BIOCOM selected John C. Reed, president and CEO of the Burnham Institute, to receive the 2008 BIOCOM Life Sciences Heritage Award. The award ceremony took place on 31 March during BIOCOM's Celebration of Life dinner in San Diego.

John C. Reed is president and CEO of the Burnham Institute for Medical Research, a nonprofit biomedical research institute headquartered in San Diego. His research has focused primarily on cancer, but he has also made important contributions in the areas of AIDS, autoimmunity, stroke, and other diseases. Reed has been a pioneer in delineating the fundamental mechanisms that regulate programmed cell death, a process by which cells in the body commit suicide through activation of a genetically controlled program. His work has revealed how defects in programmed cell death contribute to diseases, resulting in novel strategies for therapeutic intervention.

In 1989 Reed was appointed assistant professor, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and assistant director, Laboratory of Molecular Diagnosis at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Reed was recruited to the Burnham Institute in 1992. He founded and directed the institute's Program on Apoptosis and Cell Death Research until 2000. Reed served as the institute's scientific director from 1995 to 2001; he was appointed president and CEO in 2002.

The author of more than 700 peer-reviewed articles, Reed is also the recipient of numerous awards and honors. He serves on the editorial boards of 10 scientific journals and on the board of directors of 7 companies or nonprofit organizations. Reed received a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from the University of Virginia. He earned both an M.D. and a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, where he also received his clinical and postdoctoral training.

About the BIOCOM Life Sciences Heritage Award
The BIOCOM Life Sciences Heritage Award is awarded annually by BIOCOM and the Chemical Heritage Foundation to recognize an individual in the Greater San Diego region who has made outstanding contributions to the life sciences. The BIOCOM Life Sciences Heritage Award is the premier life sciences award in the Greater San Diego regional area and is given to encourage emulation, inspire achievement, and promote public understanding of the scientific and industrial successes of the modern life sciences.

About the Sponsors
BIOCOM is a premier life-science-industry association representing more than 450 member companies in San Diego and Southern California. The association focuses on initiatives that positively influence the growth of the life-science industry, including capital formation, public policy, workforce development, and scientific discovery and development.

THE CHEMICAL HERITAGE FOUNDATION (CHF) serves the community of the chemical and molecular sciences, and the wider public, by treasuring the past, educating the present, and inspiring the future. CHF maintains a world-class collection of materials that document the history and heritage of the chemical and molecular sciences, technologies, and industries; encourages research in CHF collections; and carries out a program of outreach and interpretation in order to advance an understanding of the role of the chemical and molecular sciences, technologies, and industries in shaping society.