Seattle, WA-A 2003 Totem Award has been presented to PNRI (now PNDRI) on behalf of the media program of the human islet transplantation consortium, HITS. Together, representatives from six area research and clinical sites built a media campaign to publicize the early results of the transplantation program in Seattle.

Ed Boyle from the Marketing/Communications department at Swedish; Paula Brady and Linda Stepanich from Virginia Mason; Susan Edmonds, the Media Relations Manager at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center; Walter Neary and Pam Sowers from the University of Washington; A.J. Pasquarelli and Keith Warnack from the Puget Sound Blood Center-all worked with PNRI to create a unique media collaboration. Thanks to their efforts, the islet transplantation news story received widespread public notice in print and broadcast media throughout Washington and neighboring states, reaching an estimated seven million households.

Totem Awards are given annually by the Puget Sound chapter of the Public Relations Society of America. More than 76 entries were received in 44 categories. This year's public service partnership award went to PNRI for coordinating the complex campaign to inform the public about this important advance in diabetes research.