Kansas City, Mo. (Jan. 31, 2007) –The March of Dimes Foundation has awarded Sue Jaspersen, Ph.D., and Kausik Si, Ph.D., Assistant Investigators at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research, Basil O'Connor Starter Scholar Research Awards. Each award of $150,000 over two years supports a junior investigator whose work promises insight into the causes of human birth defects. Drs. Jaspersen and Si are the fifth and sixth Stowers researchers to receive the award.

     “Winning a Basil O’Connor award is a significant accomplishment for a young scientist, and a well-deserved honor bestowed upon Drs. Jaspersen and Si,” said William B. Neaves, Ph.D., President and CEO of the Stowers Institute for Medical Research. “The Institute strives to recruit the most outstanding young researchers. The recognition of six Stowers scientists by the March of Dimes in the past five years validates the success of our effort.”

     “We are pleased that our successful fundraising efforts across the nation, such as WalkAmerica and Bikers for Babies®, make it possible for us to support new, locally focused efforts to help babies be born healthy," said March of Dimes State Director Greg Alejos.

     Sue L. Jaspersen, Ph.D., joined the Stowers Institute from the University of Colorado at Boulder where she was a Helen Hay Whitney Fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Mark Winey. Her research focuses on the mechanism and regulation of spindle pole body (SPB) duplication in budding yeast. The SPB is the microtubule organizing center of the yeast cell. It plays a critical role in cellular division and is the yeast equivalent of the centrosome found in human cells. Defects in human centrosome duplication can cause genetic instability leading to incomplete sets of chromosomes. This is a common cause of birth defects and cancer.

     Kausik Si, Ph.D., joined the Stowers Institute from the Columbia University Center for Neurobiology and Behavior where he conducted postdoctoral research with Dr. Eric Kandel, winner of the 2000 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Dr. Si’s laboratory concentrates on information storage and memory retention in the brain. A better understanding of this process may lead to insight about the basis of birth defects that affect brain function.

About the Stowers Institute
     Housed in a 600,000 square-foot state-of-the-art facility on a 10-acre campus in the heart of Kansas City, Missouri, the Stowers Institute for Medical Research conducts basic research on fundamental processes of cellular life. Through its commitment to collaborative research and the use of cutting-edge technology, the Institute seeks more effective means of preventing and curing disease. The Institute was founded by Jim and Virginia Stowers, two cancer survivors who have created combined endowments of $2 billion in support of basic research of the highest quality.

About the March of Dimes
     The March of Dimes is a national foundation whose mission is to improve the health of babies by preventing premature birth, birth defects and infant mortality. Founded in 1938, the March of Dimes funds programs of research, community services education, and advocacy to save babies. More information is available on the March of Dimes web site www.marchofdimes.com or by calling (816) 561-0175.