A preeminent organ transplant researcher and an expert in animal health and food safety were recently chosen by the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine to receive the 1999 Alumni Achievement Award, the highest honor bestowed by the school. Donald Cramer, professor of research in the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at The Heart Institute at Children's Hospital, USC School of Medicine in Los Angeles, will be recognized for preeminent research in the immunology of organ transplantation and distinguished contributions to biomedical research. Cramer, who earned his DVM degree at UC Davis in 1966 and his Ph.D. degree at Harvard University Medical School in 1978, is a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Pathologists. From 1995 to 1999 he served as director of transplantation biology research at the National Institute of Transplantation, St. Vincent Medical Center in Los Angeles, and from 1978 to 1989 was associate professor of pathology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. He directed the Transplantation Biology program of the Department of Surgery, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles from 1989 to 1995. His basic research there centered on understanding the mechanisms involved in the rejection reaction that occurs in humans when organs from humans or other species are transplanted. Cramer and his fellow researchers have worked with systems such as heart and liver transplants to determine how organ rejection might be controlled, either by suppressing or avoiding the rejection response. They have investigated strategies such as development of new immunosuppressive drugs that could interrupt the immune response and prevent a host from rejecting the transplanted organ, or developing genetic engineering techniques to prevent antibody production against the foreign organ tissue. Also being honored for his achievements is Richard Breitmeyer, state veterinarian and director of California's Animal Health and Food Safety Services. Breitmeyer was recognized for outstanding local, national and international contributions to animal health and food safety. The Alumni Achievement Awards were presented during the recent UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine commencement ceremony.