Divergence Founder Receives Academy of Science of St. Louis Innovation Award

St. Louis (April 2, 2003) - Divergence, Inc. Founder, President, and Chief Scientific Officer James McCarter, M.D., Ph.D. was acknowledged today with the Innovation Award from the Academy of Science of St. Louis. The award "recognizes a scientist under age 40 for superior accomplishment in a branch of science", according to the Academy and was granted to Dr. McCarter "for developing powerful gene-based strategies to treat infections by parasitic nematodes and co-founding the Young Scientist Program".

The Academy of Science of St. Louis, founded in 1856, is dedicated to improving scientific literacy in the St. Louis region. It began awarding its Innovation Prize in 1995. Co-Recipient of the award this year was Phyllis Hanson, M.D., Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Cell Biology and Physiology at Washington University School of Medicine.

Dr. McCarter is an expert in the application of genomics to parasitic disease, leading both industry and academic initiatives to attack diseases of humans, animals, and plants caused by invading nematode worms. He founded Divergence in 1998. Dr. McCarter is also a Research Instructor at Washington University School of Medicine's Genome Sequencing Center (GSC) in St. Louis, where he continues work he initiated in 1998 as the Merck Fellow of the Helen Hay Whitney Foundation. At the GSC, Dr. McCarter has led the world's largest effort devoted to the sequencing of genes from parasitic nematodes, generating over 200,000 sequences with funding from the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation. Dr. McCarter completed his medical and doctoral training at Washington University, receiving the Victor Hamburger Prize in developmental biology. Previously, he graduated magna cum laude from Princeton University, receiving the Cannon Award in biology. Dr. McCarter is a member of the 2002 class of Henry Crown Fellows of the Aspen Institute and a 2002 selection for the St. Louis Business Journal's 40-Under-40 list of business leaders. He founded the Young Scientist Program, Washington University's largest science outreach project, in 1991.

Divergence is a research and development company dedicated to the discovery of effective and ecologically sound strategies for the control of parasites and other pests. The company's initial focus is on parasitic nematodes, one of the world's major pest groups. Nematodes are roundworms that cause billions of dollars in damage annually to numerous crops, including soybeans, corn, and cotton, as well as most fruits and vegetables. Nematodes also cause widespread disease in animals, including infections such as heartworm in dogs and cats and intestinal worms in livestock. Nematode-induced human diseases include elephantiasis and African river blindness.

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For more information on Divergence, visit www.divergence.com.

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