NEW ORLEANS – The 35th annual Alton Ochsner Award Relating Smoking and Disease has been awarded to Paul J. Kenny, the Ward-Coleman Professor and Chair of the Nash Family Department of Neuroscience at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York.
This prestigious honor bestowed by Ochsner Health recognizes scientists who have made major contributions regarding the relationship between smoking and disease along with the development of innovative treatment modalities. The award is named in honor of Alton Ochsner, M.D., co-founder of the Ochsner Clinic (now known as Ochsner Health). In 1939, Ochsner published evidence indicating that tobacco smoking was the major cause of lung cancer. As the 2020 honoree, Kenny will receive a $15,000 honorarium, an award medallion and a plaque describing key research findings.
“Research is at the core of all our Centers of Excellence. At Ochsner, we have a rich legacy of recognizing and supporting research critical to progressing our understanding of complex healthcare issues – including the work begun by Dr. Alton Ochsner back in 1939 relating smoking and lung cancer. As our 2020 honoree, Dr. Kenny joins the ranks of other research giants in this field for his contributions studying nicotine addition,” said Leonardo Seoane, M.D., chief academic officer, Ochsner Health.
