Marvin Cassman, executive director of the California Institute for Quantitative Biomedical Research, last week received the 2003 Distinguished Service Award from the Biophysical Society.

The honor came from the primary society for structural biology and biophysics and recognized Cassman's work at the National Institutes of Health, where he served as director of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) before coming to UCSF last year.

"Dr. Cassman's receipt of the 2003 Distinguished Service Award is an expression of the society's gratitude for his many years of outstanding service to the scientific community," said Peter Moore, professor of chemistry and molecular biophysics and biochemistry at Yale, and the 2002 Distinguished Service Award recipient. "Without dedicated civil servants like Marvin Cassman in key positions in the government, the many advances that have occurred in the biological sciences in recent decades would not have been possible."

As executive director of QB3 — a collaborative effort between UCSF, UC Berkeley and UC Santa Cruz and is one of the four California Institutes for Science and Innovation created by Governor Davis in 2000 — Cassman guides a network of scientists from different disciplines, including the physical, engineering, mathematical and medical sciences. Their goal is to create new techniques for attacking biological problems. QB3 will be headquartered at UCSF's Mission Bay campus in a building where an assemblage of more than 100 scientists will probe technologies to improve human health.

"Marvin has brought his many years of seasoned leadership at NIH to QB3," said Larry Smarr, professor of computer science and engineering, Jacobs School of Engineering, UCSD and Director of the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology based in San Diego. "I worked closely with Marvin for years, in his role as director of NIGMS, on creating more support for bioinformatics and computational biology for the community. It is for this and many other initiatives that the award is so well deserved."

The award, established by the Biophysical Society in 1991, recognizes outstanding service in the field of biophysics. The award is for contributions beyond achievements in research.

Links:

Cassman to Synergize Talents at QB3

California Institute for Quantitative Biomedical Research (QB3)

Cassman Tapped to Lead QB3

Source: Beth Martin

Last updated January 28, 2005

Marvin Cassman

Marvin Cassman, director of the Institute of Quantitative Biomedical Research (QB3).