[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 45 (Wednesday, April 16, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E673]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       HONORING DR. MINA BISSELL

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. RONALD V. DELLUMS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 16, 1997

  Mr. DELLUMS. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor Dr. Mina Bissell of 
Berkeley, CA, who will be honored this month by the Department of 
Energy. On April 18, 1997, Dr. Bissell will receive the Ernest Orlando 
Lawrence Award for her pioneering contributions to our understanding of 
the extracellular matrix and microenvironment in differentiation, 
programmed cell death, and cancer.
  Dr. Bissell's outstanding dedication as the director of the Lawrence 
Berkeley National Laboratory's Life Sciences Division has resulted in 
tremendous scientific discoveries. Among these was identifying the 
extracellular matrix, a network of proteins that surrounds and supports 
breast cancer cells as a crucial regulator of normal and malignant 
breast cancer cells.
  Dr. Bissell was born in Iran, where she was the top high school 
graduate in the country and received a scholarship to study abroad. She 
came to the United States and studied chemistry at Bryn Mawr College, 
before transferring to Radcliffe College.
  After earning her Ph.D. in microbiology and molecular genetics at 
Harvard University, she came to the University of California at 
Berkeley to conduct post-doctoral research. Since joining the Berkeley 
Lab in 1972, Dr. Bissell has worked tirelessly to increase our 
knowledge of cancer in the hope of someday finding a cure.
  Dr. Bissell's tremendous success is largely due to the unorthodox 
approach she used in her research. Rather than searching for new 
cancerous genes, as most cancer researchers were doing, she focused on 
studying the changes cells go through as they develop, aiming to 
precisely define normal cell behavior.
  This research led to many important conclusions about malignant cells 
that were considered heretical at the time but have since been shown to 
be correct. Today, thanks to Dr. Bissell's persistence and initiative, 
it is widely accepted that the extracellular matrix plays an important 
role in the spread of cancer and other abnormalities.
  A driven researcher, Dr. Bissell motivates her collaborators and 
students with her passion for science. These traits have made her an 
effective leader as well as an accomplished scientist. Through her 
decades of dedication, Dr. Bissell has earned the respect and 
admiration of the cancer-research community.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to rise with me today in honoring 
the invaluable achievements of Dr. Mina Bissell and in wishing her 
continued success in her research.

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