Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) biochemist Billy Hudson, PhD, has been awarded the 2018 Distinguished Investigator Prize by the International Society for Matrix Biology for his contributions to the field of matrix biology.
Hudson, graduated from Henderson State University in 1962 with a degree in Chemistry. He was recognized as a Distinguished Alumnus of Henderson in 1990.The prize will be presented this month during the American Society for Matrix Biology Biennial Meeting in Las Vegas.
Hudson is the Elliott V. Newman Professor of Medicine at Vanderbilt and director of the Center for Matrix Biology. The prize recognizes seminal basic science and medical discoveries by Hudson and his colleagues about the chemistry, pathology and evolution of collagen IV, an extracellular matrix protein.
The extracellular matrix binds cells together forming a functional tissue and influences cell behavior. The matrix plays important roles in organ development and function, wound repair, angiogenesis, cancer, diabetic complications, as well as tissue fibrosis and regeneration.
The prizes also recognizes Hudson’s commitment to education, particularly the Aspirnaut STEM pipeline program he and his wife, Julie Hudson, M.D., vice president for Medical Center Relations, established in 2007 and which has become a national model for training scientists, doctors and engineers, including students from Henderson.
“I am deeply honored to receive this prestigious award and will accept it on behalf of my students, fellows, collaborators and Aspirnauts,” said Hudson, who also is professor of Biochemistry, Cell and Developmental Biology, and Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology.