UF pediatric geneticist named to prestigious society

June 8, 2006

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — A University of Florida pediatric geneticist considered one of the world’s leading researchers and physicians for Prader-Willi Syndrome recently was inducted into the Johns Hopkins University Society of Scholars.

Dr. Daniel J. Driscoll, a UF professor of pediatrics and of molecular genetics and microbiology and the John T. and Winifred M. Hayward professor of genetics research, was one of 15 scientists named to the prestigious society this year. The society was created in 1967 to honor successful former postdoctoral fellows, junior faculty and visiting faculty at Johns Hopkins who have risen to the top of their fields. A committee selects the scholars based on faculty nominations.

After earning his doctorate at the Indiana University School of Medicine and his medical degree at Albany Medical College, Driscoll completed his pediatric residency training and a postdoctoral fellowship in medical genetics at Johns Hopkins.

“I am very honored and humbled to have received this prestigious award from such an outstanding university,” Driscoll said. “I have many fond memories of the time I spent at Hopkins and of my mentors. Hopkins will always have a special place in my heart.”

Driscoll joined the UF faculty in 1989. His studies of Angelman and Prader-Willi syndromes have led to breakthroughs in understanding how these disorders occur. Driscoll was the first to propose the existence of a new class of mutations now known as “imprinting defects.” His lab also developed the most widely used test to diagnose Prader-Willi, a rare disorder that causes patients to have insatiable appetites and often leads to morbid obesity. The disease is the most frequent known cause of genetic obesity.