The Eye and Ear Foundation awarded the third annual Albert C. Muse Prize to James F. Battey Jr., M.D., Ph.D., director of the National Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD). The Muse Prize recognizes world leaders in ophthalmology and otolaryngology with a recipient in each field in alternating years.

Dr. Battey joined the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 1983 and was appointed director of NIDCD in 1998. Under his leadership, the research conducted and funded there has been broad and far-reaching. Dr. Battey has advocated studies on the importance of early identification of hearing loss in newborns and new technologies for improving assistive devices such as cochlear implants and hearing aids. In addition, he also has led research on the importance of genetics in diagnosing, treating and preventing communication disorders such as hereditary hearing loss.

Appointed as the NIH spokesperson for stem cell research in 2002, he was appointed chairman of the NIH Stem Cell Task Force, a committee of prominent researchers charged with helping to move the stem cell research agenda forward by overcoming current scientific challenges. He has been an outspoken advocate for new frontiers that offer possibilities in the treatment of human disease, including balance disorders, a chronic problem that affects a large segment of the population.

Dr. Battey received his B.S. degree in physics from the California Institute of Technology and his medical and doctorate degrees in biophysics from Stanford University School of Medicine. He completed a residency in pediatrics before finishing his postdoctoral fellowship in genetics at Harvard Medical School.

 “James Battey’s work in human communications and his efforts to move controversial research agendas forward have consistently challenged the field of medicine,” said Jonas T. Johnson, M.D., professor and chairman of the department of otolaryngology at the University of Pittsburgh and the Eye and Ear Institute. “His vision, persistence and passion for curing diseases and improving quality of life in ways that impact many people, have set a standard that inspires us all.”

Dr. Battey received the award during a full-day Albert C. Muse Prize event September 29 that featured meetings and lectures hosted by the Eye and Ear Foundation and the Eye and Ear Institute.

“The awarding of the Albert C. Muse Prize celebrates the genius and perseverance of a truly remarkable physician of our time,” said Gordon Nelson, chairman of the Eye and Ear Foundation.

The Albert C. Muse Prize was established in 2001 to honor the world’s leaders in otolaryngology and ophthalmology who have made significant, progressive contributions to the field of science and medicine in either of the two specialties. Nominees are submitted by department chairs at medical schools and research institutions across the U.S. and other countries. The award honors Albert C. Muse, a past chairman of the Eye and Ear Foundation and current vice-chairman, who has given more than 30 years of dedicated service to the Foundation and the Eye and Ear Institute.

In 2004, the Eye and Ear Foundation awarded its first Albert C. Muse Prize in Ophthalmology to Judah Folkman, M.D., the Julia Dyckman Andrus Professor of Pediatric Surgery and a Professor of Cell Biology at Harvard Medical School, and the Vascular Biology Program Director at Children’s Hospital in Boston. In 2003, the Muse Prize was awarded in Otolaryngology to Wolfgang Steiner, M.D., Chairman of Head and Neck Surgery at University of Goettingen, Germany, for his work in pioneering minimally invasive laser surgery for neck cancer.