WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., MARCH 15, 2007 – Kenneth Lyons Jones, M.D., the renowned pediatrician and birth defects researcher who was one of two doctors who identified fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), will receive the 2007 March of Dimes/Colonel Harland Sanders Award for lifetime achievement in genetic sciences.
The award will be presented to Dr. Jones on March 23 at the Annual Clinical Genetics Meeting of the American College of Medical Genetics in Nashville, Tennessee.
Dr. Jones is chief of the Division of Dysmorphology/Teratology in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of California, San Diego. He has been active in research, teaching, clinical work, and public service for nearly 40 years.
Dr. Jones' research has focused on dysmorphology, the study of birth defects, particularly those affecting the anatomy; identifying mechanisms of normal and abnormal fetal development; and recognition of new human teratogens (birth defects-causing agents). His book, “Smith's Recognizable Patterns of Human Malformation,'' is the reference used by health care professionals to diagnosis and manage individuals with birth defects and genetic conditions.
Dr. Jones' most famous accomplishment is his coining of the term “fetal alcohol syndrome,” with David W. Smith, M.D., to define the cluster of birth defects seen exclusively in the babies of women who used alcohol during pregnancy. In 1973, the two published their finding that alcohol was a teratogen in the British journal Lancet. That research was part of a March of Dimes-supported group focusing on diagnosis and treatment of birth defects.
He also established of the California Teratogen Information Service in 1979 to provide information to pregnant women and physicians about the potential teratogenic risk of drugs, chemicals and environmental agents to the developing fetus and to gain new information about their effects.
Dr. Jones is past president of the Western Society for Pediatric Research and the Teratology Society and co-chair of the Scientific Working Group on Diagnostic Guidelines for Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Disorder, convened by the National Center for Birth Defects & Developmental Disabilities at the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention.
The March of Dimes works to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality. For more information, visit marchofdimes.com or nacersano.org for Spanish language information.
