John
Bastianich and Carl Deddens |
Douglas T. Dieterich and
Richard J. Colonno |
Frederick
Thompson and
Janice Huff |
Frederick
Thompson (right) with
Carol and Edmund Blake |
AMERICAN
LIVER FOUNDATION
FDA And Liver
Group Honor
Hepatitis B Virus Conqueror
Text and Photos by Tim Boxer
 HE
last week of March proved most satisfying to Richard Colonno.
It was most propitious that he was honored at the fifth annual
gala of the American Liver Foundation Greater New York Chapter at
the Pierre Hotel.
In the same week the Food
and Drug Administration approved the use of entecavir in the fight
against liver disease that was discovered at the Bristol-Myers
Squibb Pharmaceutical Research Institute in Wallingford, Conn.
As vice president of
infectious diseases drug discovery at the institute, Colonno led a
team of scientists that worked for nine years to find a potent and
selective inhibitor hepatitis B virus in the treatment of
chronically infected patients.
The new drug is being
branded Baraclude.
Colonno’s discovery
will undoubtedly make a difference. More than one million
Americans suffer from chronic hepatitis B infection. More than
5,000 die from hepatitis B and related liver complications each
year.
“It’s been the most
important achievement of my life,” Colonna said at the gala.
“This is a very fulfilling experience. My feet are not on the
ground yet. When I started on this drug nine years ago my hair was
not this gray.”
Dr. Douglas T.
Dieterich, vice chair and chief medical officer of the
Department of Medicine at the Mount Sinai Medical Center,
presented the Spirit of New York Award to Colonno.
Frederick Thompson,
president and CEO of American Liver Foundation, introduced us to Carol
Blake and her husband Edmund, a liver transplant
survivor. “It’s been 11 years,” he said, “and I’m in
good shape.”
Janice Huff,
meteorologist for WNBC-TV weekday and NBC’s Saturday edition of Today,
served as host of the gala. Restaurateur and winemaker Joseph
Bastianich led a team of chefs who presented the Flavors of
New York Culinary Gala, a five-course tasting menu from England,
France, New York, Spain, Rome, Florence and Palermo.
Carl J. Deddens,
gala chair, announced that the evening raised $400,000. That
pleased chapter president Gina M. Pollichino and vice
president Stephen C. Katter. |
