Leslie Thompson, psychiatry & human behavior and neurobiology & behavior professor, was recognized as 2009 Researcher of the Year by the Huntington's Disease Society of America at the national convention in Phoenix June 5-7. The award recognizes an individual who has made outstanding research progress in the fight against HD. Thompson, who has researched HD for 20 years, last year got a $1.4 million grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. Working with Peter Donovan and Hans Keirstead, co-directors of the Sue & Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center, she will create HD stem cell lines from patient skin cells to study the nature of the disease and develop treatments.