CHORI’s Dan M. Granoff Awarded Prestigious Alumni Award from the Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine

Newswise — Oakland, CA (August 23, 2017) – Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute (CHORI) Senior Scientist Dr. Dan M. Granoff, has been awarded the 2017 Distinguished Medical Alumnus Award from his alma mater, the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

The Distinguished Medical Alumnus Award honors those alumni (degree recipients, current and former faculty, fellows and house staff) of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the Johns Hopkins Hospital who have demonstrated excellence and achievement through their personal and professional accomplishments.

Dr. Granoff received both his A.B. and MD from Johns Hopkins University and was a Pediatric Resident at Johns Hopkins Hospital.  He currently holds the Clorox Endowed Chair and is Director of the Center for Immunobiology and Vaccine Development at CHORI, UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland’s research arm. Previously, he was Professor of Pediatrics and Associate Professor of Molecular Microbiology at Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, and Director of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at St. Louis Children’s Hospital.  

Dr. Granoff is an author or co-author of more than 220 articles in infectious disease microbiology and vaccine research. In the 1980's, he conducted clinical studies and investigated the molecular basis of protective human antibody responses to Haemophilus influenzae type b polysaccharide and conjugate vaccines. His proposal in 1999 to the World Health Organization demonstrated feasibility of developing a low-cost meningococcal conjugate vaccine for Africa, which led to introduction of a vaccine that controls epidemics in the region. His work since 2003 on a new meningococcal antigen, called Factor H binding protein, which is now part of two licensed vaccines, demonstrated the importance of the protein for the ability of the bacteria to evade human host defenses, and how the protein can be mutated to create a vaccine with improved breadth of protective antibody responses.  In 2014, he was the recipient of the Maurice Hilleman/Merck Laureate award by the American Society of Microbiology for outstanding contributions to vaccine discovery and development.

About UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland
UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland (formerly Children’s Hospital & Research Center Oakland) is a premier, not-for-profit medical center for children in Northern California, and is the only hospital in the East Bay 100% devoted to pediatrics.  UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland affiliated with UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital San Francisco on January 1, 2014.  UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland is a national leader in many pediatric specialties including cardiology, hematology/oncology, neonatology, neurosurgery, endocrinology, urology, orthopedics, and sports medicine. The hospital is one of only five ACS Pediatric Level I Trauma Centers in the state, and has one of largest pediatric intensive care units in Northern California. UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland is also a leading teaching hospital with an outstanding pediatric residency program and a number of unique pediatric subspecialty fellowship programs.

UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland’s research arm, Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute (CHORI), is internationally known for its basic and clinical research.  CHORI is at the forefront of translating research into interventions for treating and preventing human diseases. For more information, go to www.childrenshospitaloakland.org and www.chori.org.


Contact: Melinda Krigel
Communications Director
UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland 
510-428-3069, 510-388-5927 (cell)
[email protected]

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