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AROUND TOWN W.E. (William Esco) Moerner, PhD W.E. (WILLIAM ESCO) MOERNER, PhD — VISIONARY SCIENTIST, NOBEL LAUREATE, AND 1971 GRADUATE OF SAN ANTONIO'S THOMAS JEFFERSON HIGH SCHOOL — TO RECEIVE BIOMED SA'S 10TH ANNUAL JULIO PALMAZ AWARD FOR INNOVATION IN HEALTHCARE AND THE BIOSCIENCES Raised in San Antonio, Moerner received the 2014 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for microscopy techniques that allow scientists to visualize precise molecular mechanisms inside living cells, opening new windows to how life can be studied. BioMed SA, the nonprofit organization focused on growing and promoting San Antonio's thriving healthcare and bioscience sec- tor, will award its 10th annual Julio Palmaz Award for Innovation in Healthcare and the Biosciences to Moerner, of Stanford University. The award, named after Palmaz Stent inventor Julio Palmaz, MD, honors individuals who have made significant contri- butions to advance the healthcare and bioscience fields. Moerner will accept the award at BioMed SA's 10th annual Palmaz Award dinner to be held in San Antonio on Thursday, Sept. 10, at The Grand Hyatt Hotel. The 10th annual Palmaz Award coincides with BioMed SA's 10-year history of championing San Antonio as a City of Science and Health. This year's selection of Moerner as the first Nobel Laureate to receive the Palmaz Award uniquely epitomizes the attributes that define the award, which is given to individuals in the healthcare and bioscience fields who have put novel ideas into action with tangible, transfor - mational results. The award alternates between recipients from San Antonio and those from the national level. Moerner is the first recipi- ent who is both. Moerner serves as the Harry S. Mosher Professor of Chemistry and Professor, by courtesy, of Applied Physics at Stanford University in California, where he conducts research in physical chemistry and chemical physics of single molecules, single-molecule biophysics, super-resolution imaging and tracking in cells, and trapping of single molecules in solution. A 1971 graduate of San Antonio's Thomas Jefferson High School, Moerner shared in the 2014 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for his groundbreaking work in super-resolution microscopy and spectroscopy. Palmaz Committee Chair C. Mauli Agrawal, PhD, of the University of Texas at San Antonio, says Moerner's work has made it possible to visualize the inner workings of cells and observe single molecules at the smallest scales. "It represents a fundamental, transformational change in the field of medical science, opening up new potential for drug discoveries," he says. Moerner was nominated for the Palmaz Award by David Weiss, MD, and James Lechleiter, MD, of The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, which was the first institution in Texas — and the second in the United States — to purchase and assemble a STORM microscope derived from Moerner's Nobel work. "The selection of a visionary scientist such as Dr. Moerner, who was raised in San Antonio and went on to win the world's most distinguished prize in chemistry, is a testament to what bright young minds here in our region can aspire to and achieve," says BioMed SA Chair Kenneth P. Trevett. Previous recipients of the Palmaz Award include nationally renowned pediatric transplant surgeon and former chancellor of The University of Texas System, Francisco G. Cigarroa, MD, of San Antonio (2014); Robert S. Langer, ScD, world-renowned engineer, medical inventor and entrepreneur from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2013); Larry Miller, MD, of San Antonio, founder and Chief Medical Officer of Vidacare Corporation (2012); Leroy Hood, MD, PhD, President and co-founder, Institute for Systems Biology, Seattle (2011); C. Mauli Agrawal, PhD, Dean of Engineering at The University of Texas at San Antonio (2010); internationally acclaimed inventor Dean Kamen of DEKA Research & Development Corp. in New Hampshire (2009); Karen Davis, PhD, President of The Commonwealth Fund in New York (2007); and San Antonio pediatric 1 2 | San Antonio MD NEWS ■ M D N E W S . CO M