Communications Office wins award for science writing

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — The Office of Communications and Public Affairs has received a Gold Medal for Excellence in Science News Writing for a package of articles about Whitehead research on prions, microRNAs, the Y chromosome and efforts to create a biological library of molecules with drug-development potential.

The award was distributed by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), an international organization representing professionals that do communications and philanthropy for educational institutions.

In awarding the medal, judges highlighted the resource library built for each story, calling the entrants “top-level writers.”

The article package, which included stories written by Rick Borchelt, David Cameron, Kelli Whitlock and Melissa Withers, was selected from an entry pool that included submissions from institutions around the country. Purdue University received a Silver Medal and Georgia Institute of Technology received a Bronze.

The awards program is part of the CASE Annual Circle of Excellence competition. Gold Medal entries will be displayed at the CASE International Assembly in San Diego in July.

Below are the award-winning news stories.

“Mad Cow” Mechanism May Be Integral to Storing Memory

New Compound Library to Speed Drug Discovery

Rumors of Male Chromosome’s Demise Greatly Exaggerated, Study Finds

Novel Method Identifies “Hidden Genes”

Prions Offer Nanotech Building Tool