A senior scientist at the USDA's Agricultural Research Service Foreign Animal Disease Research Unit at Plum Island Animal Disease Center is among 12 outstanding public servants to be honored at the 73^rd annual Arthur S. Flemming Awards. Douglas Gladue has been recognized for performing outstanding service in the field of basic science.

Gladue expedited development of the first safe and effective vaccine against the African swine fever virus. He prioritized efforts to speed up development of an ASF vaccine by developing a bioinformatic pipeline to develop a vaccine. Despite requiring all initial work to be performed in a high-containment laboratory, he was able to create a highly effective and safe vaccine for ASF and transfer this technology to a commercial partner, greatly increasing the odds of ending the ASF pandemic.

Gladue also developed a diagnostic cell line for the ASF virus that does not require fresh swine cells. This advancement has revolutionized diagnostics in laboratories worldwide and has greatly enhanced ASF diagnostic capacity and animal wellbeing.

"ARS' ability to deliver scientific solutions to animal disease and African swine fever is strengthened by Dr. Douglas Gladue's brilliant mind and research," says ARS Administrator Chavonda Jacobs-Young. "We appreciate his commitment to innovation and collaboration, and are proud to see his achievements receive the recognition they deserve."

The awards are presented by the Arthur S. Flemming Commission, in partnership with the George Washington University Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration and the National Academy of Public Administration. The 2019, 2020 and 2021 award winners will be honored at an in-person ceremony in early June.

"Once again, we have identified exceptional federal leaders, and are especially grateful to be able to celebrate with these outstanding Flemming Award winners in-person for the first time in three years," says Kathryn Newcomer, a professor of public policy and public administration at GW. "Meeting them and hearing about their incredible accomplishments is truly humbling and inspiring."

Established in 1948, the award is named after Arthur Sherwood Flemming, a distinguished government official who served seven presidential administrations of both parties, most notably as Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare under President Dwight Eisenhower. He was a two-time recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, first from President Eisenhower in 1957 and then from President Bill Clinton in 1994, two years before his death.    

Other 2021 Arthur S. Flemming Award recipients are:

Applied Science and Engineering
Balasubramanian Muralikrishnan – National Institute of Standards and Technology, U.S. Department of Commerce
Lieutenant Commander Chaolong Qi – Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Leadership and Management
Karyn Durbin – National Nuclear Security Administration. U.S. Department of Energy
Karen Howard – U.S. Government Accountability Office
Ellen Ryan – National Institute of Standards and Technology, U.S. Department of Commerce
Seh Welch – Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Basic Science
Evgeny Mishin – Air Force Research Laboratory
John Teufel - National Institute of Standards and Technology, U.S. Department of Commerce

Legal Achievement
Lisa Motley – U.S. Government Accountability Office

Social Science
Thomas Osborne – National Center for Collaborative Healthcare Innovation, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
Kandice Tanner – National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Source: George Washington University and USDA ARS, which is solely responsible for the information provided, and wholly owns the information. Informa Business Media and all its subsidiaries are not responsible for any of the content contained in this information asset.