The American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG) has honored Mary-Claire King (photo), PhD, American Cancer Society Professor of Medicine and Genome Sciences at the University of Washington, as the 2020 recipient of the annual William Allan Award (https://www.ashg.org/membership/awards/william-allan/), the top annual prize awarded by the ASHG. The William Allan Award, which carries a $25,000 prize, recognizes substantial and far-reaching scientific contributions to human genetics, and was established in 1961 in memory of William Allan, MD (1881-1943), one of the first American physicians to conduct extensive research on human genetics and hereditary diseases. “In recognizing the most outstanding science in human genetics and genomics, it is a great honor to present Dr. Mary Claire King with the 2020 William Allan Award,” said ASHG President Anthony Wynshaw-Boris, MD, PhD, Chair of the Department of Genetics and Genome Sciences at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. “She has made seminal contributions to her field, provided groundbreaking insight into the existence of the gene she named BRCA1, and changed our understanding of cancer prevention and treatment.” This award, and many other ASHG 2020 annual awards, were originally announced in July 2020, and pre-recorded awardee acceptance remarks are available as part of the ASHG 2020 Virtual Annual Meeting (October 27-30) (https://www.ashg.org/meetings/2020meeting/). Access to the ASHG annual award remarks is included as part of the registration fee for the ASHG 2020 Virtual Meeting (https://www.ashg.org/meetings/2020meeting/attendees/virtual-registration/).Login Or Register To Read Full Story