[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 4 (Tuesday, January 9, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E49]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  HONORING DOCTOR CRAIG C. MELLO, PHD

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                         HON. JAMES P. McGOVERN

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, January 9, 2007

  Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Dr. Craig C. 
Mello, PhD of the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) in 
my hometown of Worcester, Massachusetts for his great work in the 
advancement of genetic research.
  Born in New Haven, CT in 1960, Dr. Mello is an alumnus of Brown 
University where he received a Bachelor's of Science in Biochemistry in 
1982 and Harvard University where he received his PhD in Cellular and 
Developmental Biology.
  Dr. Mello and his colleague Dr. Andrew Fire are today's pioneers in 
RNA interference (RNAi). Their dedication to science and research has 
provided the world with evidence that will lead to the saving of lives 
around the world. Dr. Mello's research is not only groundbreaking but 
revolutionary.
  Madam Speaker, Dr. Mello's and Dr. Fire's discovery was published in 
Nature magazine in 1998. They have received several awards, including 
the National Academy of Sciences Award in Molecular Biology and the 
Wiley Prize in Biomedical Sciences as well as international awards in 
Germany and Canada. Most recently, Dr. Mello and Dr. Fire received the 
Nobel Prize in Physiology in 2006 for their work on RNAi, the highest 
honor in the world in the field of medicine and physiology.
  Dr. Craig C. Mello has instilled a sense of pride among the citizens 
of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the City of Worcester with his 
research in the field of developmental gene regulation.
  Madam Speaker, I am sure that the entire U.S. House of 
Representatives joins me in thanking Dr. Craig C. Mello for his 
contribution to the field of genetic research and congratulating him on 
his achievement of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine.

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