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Dean Laurie Glimcher Dr. Laurie H. Glimcher, the Stephen and Suzanne Weiss Dean of Weill Cornell Medical College, has won the Steven C. Beering Award from the Indiana University School of Medicine.

The Beering Award recognizes an internationally renowned scientist whose research has contributed to advancing biomedical or clinical science. The annual award, which carries a $25,000 prize and a medal, was established in 1983 to honor Dr. Steven C. Beering, who served as Indiana University School of Medicine's youngest dean from 1974 to 1983.

Dr. Glimcher is one of the world's leading immunologists. Her laboratory uses biochemical and genetic approaches to determine the molecular processes by which cells of the immune system, called lymphocytes, develop into their final specialized form and the mechanisms that activate them. Through this work, Dr. Glimcher discovered how the body controls gene expression in the development of type 1 and type 2 T-helper lymphocytes, findings that have implications for autoimmune, infectious, allergic and malignant diseases. Dr. Glimcher's lab also isolated the gene XBP1 and discovered that it not only is a critical regulator of immune and metabolic functions, but it is also important to cancer's ability to adapt and thrive in tumors.

Dr. Glimcher received the award on Sept. 24 and also gave the lecture "Stressed Out: A Novel Approach to Cancer Immunology," which illuminated the role of the gene XBP1 in breast and ovarian cancer and how new strategies that target the gene may be able to effectively treat these deadly diseases.