A team of current and former scientists at Oncormed Inc. was honored yesterday for its work on identifying a gene that is present in a majority of healthy people.
The discovery could have implications for identifying women who have a high risk of developing breast and ovarian cancers because of a mutation in the gene, known as BRCA1, said the Intellectual Property Owners, an association of trademark and patent owners.
It named the Oncormed team as its "National Inventors of the Year" at a ceremony in Washington yesterday.
The scientific team was led by geneticist Patricia Murphy, said Oncormed, a Gaithersburg-based company that provides gene-based testing services to physician offices, central laboratories and others.
Murphy, associate clinical professor in the department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Albany State University, is a former Oncormed employee.
Six other past or current Oncormed scientists were also named in the award.
Pub Date: 4/01/98
