The Wayne State University School of Medicine will host its annual Golden Gala at 6 p.m. Sept. 29 at the Detroit Marriott hotel, located within the Renaissance Center. The black-tie event, which is themed “A Salute to Detroit: When Old Meets New,” will bring together physicians and medical educators, as well as business, community and political leaders.

WJBK-TV (FOX2) news anchor Huel Perkins will serve as master of ceremonies of this year’s event, which will feature a reception with live music, plated dinner, award ceremony and afterglow. Tickets are $225 for one or $200 each for two or more. To purchase tickets visit www.gala.med.wayne.edu or call 313-577-3114.

The School of Medicine will honor leaders in the field of medicine with the presentations of its Ambassador, Trailblazer and Distinguished Service awards. Ananda Prasad, M.D., Ph.D.; Robert Lisak, M.D.; and Sanford Cohen, M.D., are this year’s award honorees, and will be recognized using a video presentation produced by Cynthia Canty, an Emmy-winning television reporter and anchor, Detroit radio personality and host of “Stateside with Cynthia Canty,” a new show on Michigan Radio 91.7-FM.

The School of Medicine is seeking additional sponsors and donations of raffle items for the gala. For information, contact Lori Herman at lherma@med.wayne.edu or 248-581-5929.

About the Honorees

Ananda Prasad, M.D., Ph.D., will receive the Ambassador Award, which honors individuals who have shown outstanding service, commitment to teaching and research missions and dedication to the city and community. He is distinguished professor of Medicine and director of Research in the Division of Hematology-Oncology at the School of Medicine. Dr. Prasad’s pioneering studies from the Middle East in the early 1960s established the essentiality of zinc for human nutrition and showed that its deficiency occurred in humans. The impacts of this discovery included establishment of the Recommended Daily Allowance for zinc in 1974, a life-saving use of zinc to combat deadly diarrhea in children in developing nations and its use in the prevention and treatment of the common cold. Dr. Prasad is a resident of Orchard Lake.

Robert Lisak, M.D., will receive the Trailblazer Award, which recognizes alumni and faculty who, through their perseverance and dedication, have forged paths through previously unexplored territory to become pioneers in their field of medicine and medical research. Dr. Lisak is professor of Neurology, Immunology and Microbiology at the School of Medicine. He is a leading investigator in the field of neuroimmunology, including basic, clinical and translational research in multiple sclerosis, myasthenia gravis, immune neuropathies and neurologic complications of systemic autoimmune diseases. His 2012 finding of a new factor suspected in MS progression could lead to new targeted therapies for treatment. He has served on multiple editorial boards, research committees and study sections, including as editor-in-chief of the Journal of the Neurological Sciences since 1987. Dr. Lisak resides in Bloomfield Township.

Sanford Cohen, M.D., will receive the Distinguished Service Award, given to physicians, basic researchers, non-medically related individuals or alumni who have made major contributions to humanitarian causes or through community participation. Dr. Cohen entered the U.S. Army as a captain in the Medical Corps, was assigned to Walter Reed Hospital and the South East Asia Treaty Organization Medical Research Lab in Bangkok, Thailand in 1964. He established a clinical research center for the study of dengue hemorrhagic fever among Thai children and was awarded the Army Commendation Medal for his work. He also founded the WSU Center of Academic Ethics, a first of its kind in the nation. The retired Fort Myers, Fla., resident was an active volunteer for local health agencies and the City of Detroit, where he served as a police commissioner under Mayor Dennis Archer. Since retiring as provost and senior vice president of academic affairs at WSU, Dr. Cohen has remained active in professional and community affairs.

About Wayne State University School of Medicine
Founded in 1868, the Wayne State University School of Medicine is the largest single-campus medical school in the nation with more than 1,000 medical students. In addition to undergraduate medical education, the school offers master’s degree, doctoral and M.D.-Ph.D. programs in 14 areas of basic science to about 400 students annually. To like the Wayne State University School of Medicine on Facebook visit www.facebook.com/WayneStateMedSchool.