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Former Cold Spring Resident Harold Warren Receives Prestigious Award for Research and Development
Part of team of scientists recognized for contributions on first FDA-Approved blood-screening test for Chagas' Disease
 | | Harold Warren is pictured, standing, between the other award-winning scientists, Phil Hosimer and Paul Contestable |
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Three scientists, including Harold Warren, a former resident of Cold Spring, and the son of Mr. And Mrs. Harold Warren, Senior, of Cold Spring, have received Johnson & Johnson's most prestigious award for their pioneering work on the nation's first, FDA-approved, blood-screening test designed to detect a parasite now increasingly prevalent in blood donations in the United States.
Announced today by Johnson & Johnson's Corporate Office of Science and Technology, Johnson Medals for Research & Development were awarded to Paul Contestable, principal scientist; Phil Hosimer, research fellow; and Harold Warren, director, research and development. The scientists, all based in Rochester, were three of just eight scientists recognized by Johnson & Johnson this year with this honor.
The scientists, from Ortho- Clinical Diagnostics, collaborated on the development of a blood-screening test for Chagas' disease - a bloodborne, parasitic infection that can cause lethal heart and intestinal conditions. Since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration licensed the test in December 2006, some 260 blood donations in the U.S. have tested positive for exposure to the parasite known to cause Chagas' disease. Blood donations that have tested positive have come from 35 states in the U.S. with the highest concentration in California, Florida and Texas, according to data compiled by the American Association of Blood Banks. Since testing began earlier this year, 17 Chagas-seropositive blood donations have been reported in New York State and removed from the blood supply.
The American Red Cross was among the first blood collection agencies in the U.S. to begin testing donations for Chagas' disease in early 2007. Today, approximately 70 percent of all blood donations in the U.S. are being screened for Chagas' using Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics' test.
Also called American trypanosomiasis, Chagas' disease is an infection caused by the blood-borne parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, or T.cruzi. The disease is endemic to most countries in Central and South America, as well as Mexico. Transmission occurs through insect bites, blood transfusions, organ transplants and via infected pregnant women to children in utero. Early infection is usually mild and unrecognized, but persists lifelong and may lead to organ damage, particularly of the heart and esophagus, causing an estimated 50,000 deaths annually worldwide. Infection also can be severe in people whose immune systems are suppressed, such as organ transplant recipients. According to the CDC, as many as 8 to 11 million people in Mexico, Central America and South America have Chagas' disease. Most do not know they are infected. Chagas' disease can be treated successfully if detected soon after the infection occurs, but there is no cure once the disease has entered the chronic stage.
The Johnson Medal for Research and Development is named after the late General Robert Wood Johnson and is the most prestigious award given for research and development within Johnson & Johnson. First presented in 1960, the award is given for outstanding science and technology relating to contributions to a specific product or process.
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