The Outstanding Women in Neuroscience Lectureship Award was presented to Gabriele Zu Rhein at the 8th International Symposium on NeuroVirology during the awards ceremony at the Pioneer Gala Dinner. Dr. Zu Rhein, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of Madison-Wisconsin, received her training in neuropathology in Munich, Germany and came to the University of Madison-Wisconsin early in her career. Her ground breaking electron microscopy studies more than 30 years ago provided the first evidence that the demyelinating disease, PML, could be caused by a virus (JC virus), a concept that was very controversial at the time. It is a concept that remains controversial for other diseases such as multiple sclerosis. As the 2007 Pioneer in Neurovirology, Don Gilden, mentioned in his acceptance speech, he and others continue to strongly support the case for a viral etiology in MS. In addition, Dr. Zu Rhein's elegant work in the hamster model gave us the first clues of the broad range of tumors that could be induced by JC virus and laid some of the groundwork for current studies on the association between polyomavirus- es and human cancer. Dr. Zu Rhein thanks her collaborators, both male and female, over the years in the Department of Veterinary Science at the University of Madison Wisconsin whose research influenced her thoughts. She has been an inspiration to the field for her outstanding contributions during an era when few women were able to reach such achievements. We congratulate her again for her many accomplishments.
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