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Kalexsyn Scientist Honored for Lifetime Achievement

Local scientist, Dr. Jackson B. Hester, was recently honored with a prestigious Lifetime Achievement award at the Third Annual Pharmaceutical Achievement Awards in Boston . The Scientific Achievement Awards Category recognized achievements by basic and clinical scientists whose work has been instrumental to the understanding, diagnosis, prevention, treatment and cure of human disease.

The Lifetime Achievement award, which was presented to Dr. Hester, is the top award in this category. Dr. Hester, a former Pharmacia scientist, is now a distinguished scientific consultant with Kalexsyn, Inc. a medicinal chemistry, drug discovery company located in Kalamazoo 's Southwest Michigan Innovation Center . Dr. Hester is part of a distinguished group of scientists nominated for the award, beating out MIT's Dr. Robert Langer, Novartis' Dr. Alex Matter and Dr. Peter Traxler, and Eli Lilly's Dr. David Wong. Dr. Hester's lab is credited with creating three blockbusters currently on the market, including the CNS drugs Xanax® and Halcion®. Dr. Hester accepted the award modestly, thanking numerous people involved in his discoveries. Hester gave a special thanks to his son Matt, who was in the audience, and dedicated the award to his late wife Judy, who recently died of cancer. The celebration, held August 8 at the Boston Harbor Hotel, hosted more than 250 executives and dignitaries from leading pharmaceutical research organizations. This celebration marked the first time the awards were presented in the United States . Thirteen awards were given out for achievements in four categories. The winners were selected by an executive committee of 26 industry experts, including Dr. George Poste, Dr. Sangtae Kim, and Dr. Peter Corr. The awards were hosted by IBC Life Sciences and T&F Informa.