Donald Savage

Headquarters, Washington, DC May 18, 1999

(Phone: 202/358-1727)

David Morse
Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA
(Phone: 650/604-4724)

RELEASE: 99-61

NOBEL PRIZE WINNER TO LEAD NASA ASTROBIOLOGY INSTITUTE

NASA selected Dr. Baruch Blumberg, distinguished professor,

researcher, biochemist and winner of the 1976 Nobel prize for
Physiology or Medicine, as Director of NASA's Astrobiology
Institute (NAI), effective today. NAI is an institution without
walls, a virtual organization comprising NASA centers,
universities and others dedicated to studying the origin,
evolution, distribution and destiny of life in the universe.

"Dr. Blumberg is a world-renowned scientist and researcher

who will bring powerful and committed leadership to the Agency's
Astrobiology Institute," said NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin.
"We are extremely fortunate to have a person of his scholarship,
experience and accomplishment. I am delighted that he has joined
the NASA team to lead our visionary program in astrobiology."

Blumberg is currently senior advisor to the president of the

Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, PA. He was formerly vice
president for population oncology and associate director for
clinical research at the Center. Since 1977, he has served as
professor of medicine and anthropology at the University of
Pennsylvania.

"Dr. Blumberg is internationally known for his pioneering and

Nobel Prize-winning work on developing the hepatitis B vaccine,"
said Dr. Henry McDonald, Director of NASA's Ames Research Center,
Moffett Field, CA. "During his distinguished career, he has made
many important contributions to the fields of human biology,
biochemistry and genomics. Genomics will be at the core of the
theoretical and experimental underpinnings for future NASA
research thrusts in Astrobiology. We are delighted that Dr.
Blumberg will lead NASA's Astrobiology Institute into the 21st
century."
 The Astrobiology Institute, established in July 1998, employs
a multidisciplinary focus to bring together astronomers,
biologists, chemists, exobiologists, geologists and physicists. A
key goal is to search for the origins of life -- on Earth,
elsewhere in our solar system and beyond.

"The NASA Astrobiology Institute is dedicated to basic

scientific research on one of the most fascinating questions in
biology -- the origins, evolution and destiny of life on Earth and
in the universe," said Blumberg. "NASA's tradition of discovery
research, using the remarkable devices and techniques they have
developed, will be continued in the Institute. I am honored to
have been asked to assume the directorship and, building on the
excellent organization that already exists, to lead NAI into the
next millennium."

As director of the Institute, Blumberg will lead the new

public-private partnership in its efforts to promote and conduct
astrobiology research and train young researchers. He will guide
efforts to develop modern communication tools and information
technologies to link far-flung science teams and laboratories.
Blumberg succeeds current interim director, Ames' Dr. Scott
Hubbard, who continues in his role as deputy director of space.

"Dr. Blumberg has made a tremendous impact in this world with

his remarkable discoveries in the field of science and medicine.
Now he has the opportunity to make a significant contribution on a
new frontier," said Dr. Robert C. Young, president of Fox Chase.
"Needless to say, we're extremely supportive of this new endeavor,
and we will also be grateful for his continued work on cancer
prevention at Fox Chase."

Blumberg received a medical degree from Columbia University

and a doctorate in biochemistry from Oxford University. He was
Master of Balliol College in Oxford, England, between 1989 and
1994, and has taught human biology at Stanford University. Since
his discovery of the hepatitis B vaccine and its widespread
availability in 1982, the number of people infected with the
disease worldwide has fallen dramatically.

Blumberg holds honorary degrees from numerous universities

and colleges and has received many honors and awards during his
distinguished career. He is a member or fellow of many
professional organizations, including the National Academy of
Sciences, the American Society of Human Genetics and the American
Philosophical Society.

Blumberg and his wife, Jean, are the parents of two daughters
and two sons. He enjoys long-distance walks, canoeing and cattle
raising.

NASA's Astrobiololgy Institute currently has eleven member

institutions selected through a competitive proposal review
process in May 1998. Present members include: Arizona State
University, Tempe; the University of Colorado, Boulder; Ames
Research Center, Moffett Field, CA; The Scripps Research
Institute, La Jolla, CA; the University of California, Irvine;
Pennsylvania State University, University Park; Harvard
University, Cambridge, MA; the University of California, Los
Angeles; Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, MA;
Carnegie Institution, Washington, DC; NASA Johnson Space Center,
Houston, TX; and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA.

Further information about NASA's Astrobiology Institute is

available on the web at:
http://nai.arc.nasa.gov
-end-