Ann Anderson Kiessling, Ph.D. (Harvard Medical School and the Bedford Stem Cell Research Foundation, Bedford Massachusetts) was introduced by Dorrie Fontaine, Ph.D., R.N., FAAN (Sadie Health Cabaniss Professor and Dean, School of Nursing, University of Virginia) who also described a newly established award by the School of Nursing, called the "Alumni Achievement Award," which is awarded to a nursing graduate who has contributed beyond the field of nursing. This first 2010 award was given to Dr. Kiessling by Dr. Fontaine and Pamela Booth Woodard (BSN, 1969, President of the School of Nursing Alumni Association). Dr. Kiessling addressed the role of federal funding in biomedical research with an example from her area of study, retroviruses and parthenotes. Her lecture also included the role of federal funding in the 1971 discovery of the Rous Sarcoma Virus and cancer pathogenesis and recent stem cell debates and resulting legislation from the Clinton and Obama administrations.

Co-presented with the School of Nursing