ACMG Foundation Announces Endowment Campaign to Establish The ACMG Foundation David L. Rimoin Lifetime Achievement Award in Medical Genetics

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American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics

Aug 17, 2012, 08:00 ET

BETHESDA, Md., Aug. 17, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Board of Directors of the ACMG Foundation for Genetic and Genomic Medicine have announced that the Foundation is honoring the late Dr. David L. Rimoin, founding president of ACMG and former president of the ACMG Foundation by renaming its most prestigious award, The David L. Rimoin Lifetime Achievement Award in Medical Genetics.

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Dr. Rimoin, a luminary in the field of medical genetics, passed away at the end of May of pancreatic cancer. As a visionary, admired teacher, prolific author, mentor, beloved friend, researcher and skilled and caring physician for five decades, Dr. Rimoin touched the lives of generations of patients as well as trainees and colleagues.

The David L. Rimoin Lifetime Achievement Award will be given to individuals who exemplify not only significant, long-term contributions to medical genetics but who also demonstrate the personal qualities embodied by Dr. Rimoin. The ACMG Foundation is working with Dr. Rimoin's family to develop the specific criteria for the Award.

An endowment campaign has been launched to endow this award to include a significant monetary prize. To honor Dr. Rimoin's life and work with a donation to The David L. Rimoin Lifetime Achievement Award in Medical Genetics, people may donate online at www.acmgfoundation.org/Rimoin or contact David Cotter, Director of Development at [email protected].

Dr. Rimoin's contributions to medicine were profound and were recognized by numerous awards throughout his long career including the ACMG Foundation's Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010.

Dr. Rimoin gave back to his profession as a leader in a remarkable number of scholarly and patient advocacy organizations. He was the founding president of the American Board of Medical Genetics (1979–1983), the founding president of the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (1992–1998) and then president of the ACMG Foundation for Genetic and Genomic Medicine (1998 – 2002) where he served on the Board for nearly 20 years retiring this past March. He also served on The National Foundation of The March of Dimes and on the Medical Advisory Board of the National Foundation for Jewish Genetic Diseases, amongst many other organizations. He was an honorary lifetime member in Little People of America.

Dr. Rimoin was responsible for the creation of the Medical Genetics Clinic at the Barnes and Children's Hospitals in St. Louis, the Division of Medical Genetics in the Departments of Medicine and Pediatrics at Harbor-UCLA, and the Medical Genetics Institute at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. He was Director of the International Skeletal Dysplasia Registry, the largest such registry in the world.

Bruce R. Korf, MD, Ph.D., FACMG, president of the ACMG Foundation for Genetic and Genomic Medicine said, "The current generation of medical geneticists looked to Dr. Rimoin as a mentor and a pioneer who launched our field on its present day course at the center of all of medicine. Naming our most important award in David's memory will ensure that future generations will remember and continue to benefit from the example he set."

Dr. Michael Kaback, emeritus professor at the University of California, San Diego and Dr. Rimoin's longtime research partner said, "David Rimoin lived a life of extraordinary achievement and unparalleled accomplishment. His accomplishments have been recognized throughout the world and the respect and admiration of David's peers is unequaled. Many have referred to David Rimoin as a giant, but he was more than that…he was a gentle giant. A giant, certainly in his intellect, vision, productivity, achievement, and leadership, but a gentle giant in his compassion, thoughtfulness, loyalty, and enormous capacity for love of family. David would be deeply touched that the ACMG and ACMG Foundation are honoring him in this way."

About the ACMG Foundation for Genetic and Genomic Medicine
The ACMG Foundation for Genetic and Genomic Medicine (www.acmgfoundation.org), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, is a community of supporters and contributors who understand the importance of medical genetics and genomics and genetic counseling in healthcare. Established in 1992, the ACMG Foundation supports the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics' mission to "translate genes into health" by raising funds to promote the profession of medical genetics and genomics to medical students, to fund the training of future medical geneticists, to support best-practices and tools for practicing physicians and laboratory directors, to promote awareness and understanding of our work in the general public, and much more.

SOURCE American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics