Stanford
researcher receives prize for AIDS research

Leonard Herzenberg, a researcher at Stanford University who has developed a cell-sorting technology that plays a key role in AIDS research, has been named the recipient of Japan's Kyoto Prize for lifetime achievement in medical research, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. The prize is Japan's equivalent of the Nobel Prize. Herzenberg, a geneticist and immunologist, was honored for his development of the fluorescence-activated cell sorter (FACS), a laser-driven device that identifies, sorts, counts, and analyzes every type of cell in a sample. The device is used worldwide at laboratories and hospitals, and it plays a key role in antiretroviral drug research and in monitoring the impact of HIV on the human immune system. Herzenberg will receive the prize in November at a ceremony to be held in Japan. (The Advocate)