Craig C. Malbon, Ph.D., left, Director of the Diabetes & Metabolic Diseases Research Center, received the 2008 Goodman and Gilman Award by the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET). Dr. Malbon is pictured with ASPET President Ken Minneman.

STONY BROOK, N.Y., May 6, 2008 – Craig C. Malbon, Ph.D., Leading Professor of Pharmacology and Director of the Diabetes & Metabolic Diseases Research Center (DMDRC) at Stony Brook University Medical Center, is the recipient of the 2008 Goodman and Gilman Award by the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET). The biennial award recognizes outstanding research in pharmacology of biological receptors. Dr. Malbon, a nationally recognized scientist and Professor at Stony Brook University for 30 years, was presented with the award at the ASPET annual meeting in San Diego on April 5.

According to ASPET, recipients of the Goodman and Gilman Award have demonstrated that their research may provide a better understanding of the mechanisms of biological processes and potentially provide the basis for the discovery of drugs useful in the treatment of diseases. Dr. Malbon is well known for his work in cell signaling in relation to the development of disease. Recently, he has exploited receptor pharmacology to deduce key aspects of one of the most important pathways in signaling, the Wnt signaling pathway, which is essential in the signaling of early cell development and controls certain aspects of stem cell proliferation. Such processes are involved in adipogenesis, or the production of fat cells. The manipulation of adipogenesis may someday reduce the burden of obesity and diabetes.

“Dr. Malbon’s innovative and promising research in pharmacology is crucial to the development of better and more targeted drugs for diabetes, a host of metabolic diseases and cancer,” says Richard N. Fine, M.D., Dean, Stony Brook University School of Medicine. “His leadership and experience also stimulates other related innovative research in molecular pharmacology at Stony Brook and with colleagues elsewhere.”

Since his academic career began at Stony Brook in 1978, Dr. Malbon has led numerous research initiatives through his laboratory and administrative positions. Collaborative departmental efforts in his laboratory focus on understanding the structure, function, and regulation of G protein-based signaling devices, primarily through Pharmacological Sciences. In addition, Dr. Malbon is the Founding Director of the DMDRC, which has been supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for 25 years. He is also a former Campus Operations Manager of the Research Foundation, State University of New York at Stony Brook (1993-97).

Dr. Malbon has served in other senior administrative capacities while at Stony Brook. These include Associate Dean of Biomedical Research, School of Medicine (1988-93), Vice Dean for Scientific Affairs, SBUMC (1997-2005), and the founding University Vice-President for Research (1993-97).

Dr. Malbon is a member of the ASPET, the American Society of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, the American Physiological Society, an honorary member of the Biochemical Society in the United Kingdom, and numerous other professional societies.

He is the recipient of many awards for research, including a Career Development Award from the NIH and the American Cancer Society Excellence-in-Research Award. Dr. Malbon has authored or edited more than 230 publications and has lectured on cell signaling in health and disease around the world. Involved in teaching ethics in science, Dr. Malbon was most recently appointed Visiting Scholar at Princeton Theological Seminary in New Jersey in 2007. He also studies systematic theology and social ethics at Union Theological Seminary in New York City.

ASPET includes 4,800 members from academic, industry and government organizations. Presented in even years, the Goodman and Gilman award is named after pharmacology pioneers Louis S. Goodman and Alfred Gilman. Dr. Malbon is the 15th recipient of the award.

Dr. Malbon resides in East Setauket with his family.

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