University of Iowa News Release

Oct. 31, 2007

Paulsen to be honored for Huntington's research

A specialist at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics will receive an Excellence in Medicine Award from the Iowa chapter of the Huntington's Disease Society of America (HDSA) during its annual Hope Dinner on Saturday, Nov. 3, at the Des Moines Marriott in Des Moines.

Jane Paulsen, Ph.D., a professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Neurology in the UI Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine as well as the Department of Psychology in the UI College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, has studied Huntington's disease for more than 23 years.

Paulsen, who also is a faculty member in the UI Graduate Program in Neuroscience, began studying Huntington's in 1984, and the disease became her major focus in 1990. She leads a hallmark study called PREDICT-HD that involves 32 sites around the world and almost 1,000 participants. Paulsen is also a co-director of the Huntington's Disease Center of Excellence at the UI, one of 20 such centers in the United States.

Only about 10 of every 100,000 people are carriers of the genetic defect that causes Huntington's disease. Approximately 4,000 Iowans are affected by the disorder.

STORY SOURCE: Joint Office for Marketing and Communications, University of Iowa Health Care, 200 Hawkins Drive, Room E110 GH, Iowa City, Iowa 52242-1009

MEDIA CONTACT: Tom Moore, UI Health Care, 319-356-3945, thomas-moore@uiowa.edu.