UW-Madison researcher wins Hartwell Foundation Award

The Hartwell Foundation has named Laura J. Knoll, associate professor in the Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Medicine and Public Health, one of 12 winners of its 2008 Hartwell Individual Biomedical Research Awards.

The Hartwell Award offers support to each selected investigator for three years at $100,000 direct cost per year. Knoll was chosen for her work on “Using a Mutant Microbe to Help Us Understand the Relationship Between Inflammation and Obesity.”

“We are very proud that our school has been selected again to receive this prestigious national award, and we are especially pleased that Laura Knoll, Ph.D., one of our most talented scientists, has been recognized and given support for the advancement of her science,” says Robert Golden, dean of the School of Medicine and Public Health.

“I truly believe that we will learn a lot about the relationship between inflammation and obesity that will benefit children,” Knoll says. “With the current funding crisis in our country, it would have been difficult for me to support such early stage and cutting-edge research by any other mechanism. I sincerely appreciate the support of the Hartwell Foundation for this project.”

In selecting awardees, the Hartwell Foundation, based in Memphis, Tenn., takes into account the nature of the proposed innovation, the extent to which a translational approach might promote rapid clinical application of research results, the supportive role and extent of collaboration in the proposed research, and the institutional commitment to provide encouragement and technical support to the investigator.

The Hartwell Foundation seeks to inspire innovation and achievement by funding early stage, transformative ideas with the potential to benefit kids of the United States.