Leader in biomedical research to head Children's Memorial's Research Institute

June 13, 2003 - Cancer biologist Mary J. C. Hendrix, PhD, has been named president and director of Children's Memorial Institute for Education and Research. The announcement was made by Patrick M. Magoon, president and chief executive officer of Children's Memorial Medical Center, and Kirk B. Johnson, chairman of the board of the research institute. The institute, the research arm of Children's Memorial Hospital and the center for pediatric research at Northwestern University, conducts basic science, clinical and translational research on diseases and other problems that affect children and their parents.

Hendrix is currently head of the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, as well as the deputy director of the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center in the university's Carver College of Medicine. She is planning to come to Chicago later this year along with her interdisciplinary research team.

"After an exhaustive search, we are ecstatic to have found precisely the right person to develop the research institute into a mature scientific enterprise at the forefront of pediatric research," said Magoon. "Dr. Hendrix brings scientific excellence and visionary leadership to research at Children's Memorial and Northwestern University."

Hendrix is expected to be appointed professor of pediatrics and cell biology at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine. Children's Memorial Institute for Education and Research is one of 13 interdisciplinary research centers and institutes at the Feinberg School.

"Dr. Hendrix is a gifted researcher whose laboratory has uncovered key findings that increase our understanding of how cancer metastasizes," said Lewis Landsberg, MD, dean of the Feinberg School. "She has also been an energetic advocate for science and science policy on a national level, including leading efforts for increased funding for biomedical research." Hendrix, who holds a doctorate in anatomy and cell biology from George Washington University, and received postdoctoral training at Harvard Medical School, has published more than 150 scientific papers, numerous books and book chapters. Her work is funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), including a prestigious MERIT (Method to Extend Research in Time) award from the National Cancer Institute. She is also supported by pharmaceutical companies and philanthropy.

"I am extremely pleased to have the opportunity to work with the exceptional people associated with the institute, Children's Memorial Hospital, and Northwestern University," said Hendrix, "and I look forward to the potential good we can accomplish, working together toward the common goal of translating research with enhanced educational programs to benefit children and parents."

Hendrix holds leadership roles in many national professional and scientific societies. She is past president of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, the largest coalition of biomedical researchers in the U.S. In May, she was appointed by Tommy Thompson, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, to the National Advisory Council for Human Genome Research, which establishes program priorities for the National Human Genome Research Institute and sets goals for U.S. efforts in the International Human Genome Project. She is on the board of directors for Public Responsibility in Medicine and Research, and the Annenberg Center for Health Sciences at Eisenhower Medical Center. Hendrix is also president of the Association of Anatomy, Cell Biology and Neuroscience Chairpersons and is the recipient of the 2002-2003 Distinguished Achievement Award by the University of Iowa Committee on the Celebration of Excellence Among Women.

The Children's Memorial Institute for Education and Research, founded in 1985, includes a state-of-the-art laboratory building, which opened in 1995. A 50,000-square foot addition to the current structure will be ready for occupancy in January 2004. External funding for research at the institute has almost tripled in the last five years, from $6.4 million in 1996 to $18 million in 2002, approximately two-thirds from NIH and other federal agencies. It is among the top 10 pediatric research institutes for NIH funding.

For more information, contact Ellen M. Hunt at 773.880.6908; fax 773.880.3068.