2010 Norman Hackerman Award in Chemical Research

Dr. Kim Orth The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas

“For her rigorous and creative research in the
field of bacterial pathogenic signaling."

Growing up in Texas, Dr. Orth began her college career at Texas A&M studying psychology, but she found her passion for science after taking a molecular genetics course and graduated with a degree in biochemistry.  She earned her master's at the UCLA School of Medicine and her doctorate at UT Southwestern Medical Center.  After postdoctoral work at the University of Michigan, she returned to UT Southwestern Medical Center as an assistant professor in 2001.

In her paradigm-shifting work, Kim Orth has discovered new mechanisms by which bacteria can cause disease.  The organisms she has studied hijack and deregulate a cell's signaling systems for their own purposes, thus defeating the body's immune system.  Her work is providing a broad new understanding of how a pathogen can be successful in attacking the immune system and new knowledge of important cell functions.

Her research is helping scientists better understand cell signaling, which is critical to the body's normal functioning.  Studying the areas targeted by the bacteria and learning how the toxins disrupt the cell's signaling mechanisms will aid scientists in identifying the most critical processes in the cell.  Eventually, her work could provide the basis for developing drugs to defeat the action of these modifying enzymes and prevent the bacteria from overwhelming the host's immune system.  Scientists also may be able to adapt certain of the bacteria's mechanisms for therapeutic purposes, for example by turning a particular function off to treat proliferative diseases such as cancer.

Dr. Orth was recognized on February 3 at a luncheon hosted by The Welch Foundation and was presented with the crystal rising star sculpture and $100,000.