UF College of Medicine honors top researchers

One researcher is helping to forge the way to a cure for diabetes, the other is breaking new ground in the treatment of HIV-infected children – both were recently acknowledged by the University of Florida College of Medicine for significant research contributions.

Mark A. Atkinson, a professor of pathology, immunology and laboratory medicine, received this year’s Excellence in Basic Science Research Award. The Excellence in Clinical Research Award was given to Dr. John W. Sleasman, chief of immunology and infectious diseases in the department of pediatrics.

The awards were announced at the annual College of Medicine faculty dinner, held March 30 at the UF Hotel and Conference Center as part of the college’s Research Day.

Atkinson’s research is focused on understanding the causes of type 1 diabetes, uncovering molecular markers that can predict the disorder and seeking better treatments or a cure. He leads a team of investigators who recently received a $10.4 million grant from the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International to establish the Gene Therapy Center for the Prevention of Diabetes and Its Complications at UF and the University of Miami, which he directs.

Atkinson completed his doctorate at UF in 1987 and has served on the faculty since 1990. He also directs the UF Center for Immunology and Transplantation. In conjunction with colleagues, he has been awarded several U.S. patents on techniques for predicting and preventing the onset of type 1 diabetes.

Sleasman co-directs the UF Program for Research in Human Immune Deficiency Diseases, which primarily investigates the biologic implications of HIV-1 genetic variability on the origin and progression of HIV infection in children and adolescents. His research has helped define which cells are targeted by the HIV virus as it replicates. His studies also have shown that age, viral genotype and pre-therapy immune status are critical factors in predicting how the disease – and the immune system -- will respond to treatment.

After completing his residency and clinical fellowship at UF, and further research training at Harvard, he joined the faculty in 1988. Sleasman, a professor in the departments of pediatrics and pathology, immunology and laboratory medicine, also has studied congenital immunodeficiency disorders.