Nominations Open for 2014 Stem Cell Person of the Year with $2,000 Prize

Nominations are now open for the 2014 Stem Cell Person of the Year Award.

The winner receives $2,000 as well as recognition as a true difference maker and leader in the stem cell field.

I found the first two years of this award process that all the finalists received a great deal of positive attention even if they didn’t win and I expect the same will be true this year.

Please nominate your pick for the most positively influential person of the year of 2014 in the stem cell field.  Some of the strongest candidates last year received multiple independent nominations so just because you think someone else will probably nominate your favorite, you should still nominate them too.

Send them to me at knoepfler@ucdavis.edu.

Include a brief (target length = 1/4 page) explanation as to why you think the person in question is deserving of the award, any relevant links, and other pertinent material.

Nominees can be almost anyone ranging from an advocate to an academic or industry scientist to a stem cell biotech leader to a policy maker to a physician…think outside the box! Surprise me!

To be fair and keep things as interesting as possible, there are a few rules.

• Employees of UC Davis, where I work, are not eligible.
• Organizations are not eligible.
• Only individuals may be nominated.
• Previous winners are also not eligible.
• Self-nominations are accepted, but will face a higher hurdle.

I’m looking for people who have made a transformative, positive advance happen in the stem cell field.

I particularly appreciate creative change makers who have the guts to take risks to help others.

On October 7th at midnight, nominations will close and on October 8, International Stem Cell Day, I will announce the finalists. At that point we will also begin a two-week Internet vote on the candidates for finalists.