Woodrow Wilson Award 2009

2009 Recipients

Marlene Haffner, SPH '91
Marlene Haffner, has served her country at the highest level of government, rising to the rank of Admiral in the US Public Health Service (USPHS).  Dr. Haffner was the director of the Office of Orphan Products Development at the Federal Drug Administration for 20 years, and in that position became one of the worlds's experts on the research, development, and approval of designated orphan drugs and products for people suffering from rare diseases. From 1987 to 2004, she was also the FDA Representative to the Office of the Surgeon General, USPHS, holding the rank of Assistant Surgeon General, and focusing primarily on Commissioned Corps policy and initiatives. From 1981 through 1987, she rose from associate director for health affairs at the Bureau of Medical Devices, FDA, to Director for Health Affairs. Prior to working at the FDA, Marlene was the Area Director of the Navajo Area Indian Health Service in Window Rock, Arizona, administering a comprehensive medical care system which covered an area of approximately 25,000 square miles in the states of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. Since retiring from the USPHS in 2007, Marlene serves as the executive director, global regulatory affairs and policy for Amgen, Inc.  Her passion remains in making a difference in the health of people so that their lives can be fulfilling and more productive. She was an inaugural member of the Dean's Alumni Advisory Council of Bloomberg School of Public Health, and continues to serve in that capacity.  She is trained in Internal Medicine, Dermatology and Hematology.  She is the recipient of numerous professional governmental awards, honors and academic awards, including the Department of Health and Human Services Secretary's Award for Distinguished Service, the Surgeon General's Exemplary Service Medal and the Presidential Citation of the National Environmental Health Association. Marlene is a Professor in the departments of Medicine, Preventive Medicine and Biometrics at the F. Edward Hébert School of Medicine, Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences (USUHS), and has authored 25 articles in peer-reviewed journals and six book chapters. The Admiral has given almost 300 presentations around the world during her distinguished career. Top

Kuan-Teh Jeang, A&S '79, Med '82, '84 (PhD)
Born in Taiwan, Kuan-Teh Jeang, moved with his family to Libya at age five, and then to the U.S. at age 12. He entered MIT at 16 as an undergraduate and later transferred to Johns Hopkinswhere he received his bachelor's as well as his M.D. and Ph.D. In 1985, Dr. Jeang joined the National Cancer Institute as a medical staff fellow. Two years later he moved to the Laboratory of Molecular Microbiology at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease to begin research on human retroviruses. Kuan-Teh was appointed senior investigator and director of the Molecular Virology Section of the Laboratory in the late 1990's. He is the elected president of the Society of Chinese Bioscientists in America and serves as a councilor for the American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, arguably the largest American association of biology professionals. In 2004, Kuan-Teh and several colleagues founded the medical journal Retrovirology, a retrovirus research journal with a strong reputation, of which he is editor-in-chief. He is also associate editor for Cancer Research and is an editorial board member for the Journal of Biological Chemistry, the Journal of Biomedical Science, and the Journal of Virology, among others. Kuan-Teh is a prolific leader in the field of molecular virology. His research focuses on the gene regulation of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and how the human T-cell leukemia virus causes cancer. He has published more than 249 peer reviewed articles, which have been cited more than 8,500 times, and is an elected member of the American Society of Clinical Investigation, The Association of American Physicians, and most recently, Academia Sinica, the preeminent Taiwanese academic institution. Top