HICKORY, NC, February 01, 2018 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Marquis Who's Who, the world's premier publisher of biographical profiles, is proud to present Leonard E. Benade, PhD, JD, with the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award. An accomplished listee, Mr. Benade celebrates many years' experience in his professional network, and has been noted for achievements, leadership qualities, and the credentials and successes he has accrued in his field. As in all Marquis Who's Who biographical volumes, individuals profiled are selected on the basis of current reference value. Factors such as position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility, and prominence in a field are all taken into account during the selection process.
A unique and interesting background that included government work, science, and now law, Dr. Benade formed Benade & Huggins LLP (Mediation, Arbitration and Litigation) in Hickory, NC, in 2007. A professional mediator and arbitrator that spans more than 25 years in alternative dispute resolution, he is both an arbitrator and mediator for the Financial Industry Regulatory Association, an arbitrator for the National Futures Association, a certified mediator for the U.S. District Court - Western District of North Carolina, and a North Carolina DRC certified Superior Court mediator serving in 30 districts. Dr. Benade's successes in arbitration and mediation have included close to 800 mediations with an 85% settlement rate. Proficient in divorce, equitable distribution, and child custody mediation, he also has extensive experience with cases involving alienation of affection and criminal conversation. One of just nine AACR advanced family practitioners in North Carolina. He also represents clients in securities litigation and represents veterans appealing their claims in federal court.
Dr. Benade attended the University of Virginia where he earned a BA in Biology with High Distinction in 1966. While at the University he served on the Student Council and Honor Committee, and was awarded Intermediate Honors and a Miller Scholarship in biology. He was also elected to Phi Beta Kappa and Alpha Epsilon Delta International Pre-Medical Honor Society. He then completed a PhD in Biochemistry at George Washington University in 1971 with the support of a National Institutes of Health Pre-Doctoral Fellowship. His published thesis research described the synergistic killing of mouse ascites carcinoma cells by ascorbate and aminotriazole. Following his graduation he accepted a position with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). But regretting the decision to leave cancer research, Dr. Benade left the CIA and returned to working in biomedical consulting, inching his back towards cancer research. His consulting included work for the National Cancer Institute, National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, and OSHA where he assisted in the preparation of inflationary impact analyses on proposed OSHA regulations. He was also called to appear as a congressional witness.
Anxious to return to laboratory cancer research, he contacted James Watson, co-discoverer of the double-stranded structure of DNA and Director of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York. Dr. Watson suggested he attend an upcoming Symposium on the "Origins of Human Cancer" at the Laboratory. Dr. Benade did so and made connections resulting in a post-doctoral fellowship at the NCI's Frederick Cancer Research Center. While there he and Mariano Barbacid published a paper implicating the major core protein of the mouse leukemia virus as the determinant in FV-1 tropism. Dr. Barbacid later went on to co-discover ras, the first recognized human cancer gene. He also isolated and characterized a unique B-tropic murine leukemia virus.
Following the completion of his post-doc, Dr. Benade interned with George Todaro's Laboratory of Cellular and molecular Biology at the National Cancer Institute (Dr. Todaro along with Robert Huebner was the co-founder of the viral oncogene hypothesis). His research here focused on molecular parameters in the etiology of breast cancer. It was during this period that the government lifted its regulations on recombinant DNA research ushering in a new frontier in genetics through molecular gene cloning and genetic engineering.
Then Dr. Benade accepted the position of Senior Staff Scientist with Edward Scolnick's NCI Laboratory of Tumor Virus Genetics. Here he conducted research on the interaction of hormonal, chemical, and viral factors in breast cancer and the mechanism of hormonal regulation of gene transcription in the mouse mammary tumor virus.
Dr. Benade was then chosen to be Head of the Department of Virology at the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC), an internationally recognized repository for germplasm where he directed basic research and maintained the largest collection of viruses in the world. There he established a collection of molecularly cloned viruses and later a collection of cloned cancer genes (oncogenes). With these as a foundation he then competed successfully for a government contract to establish the first repository for all human genes. This gene bank soon played a role in the Human Genome Project that led to the genetic sequencing of the entire human genome.
During his years in biomedicine, Dr. Benade served as Chief of Developmental Virology & Genetics for seven years with the American Red Cross where he directed research on inactivation of the AIDS virus in blood products and served as principal investigator on an National Institutes of Health grant for research on the isolation and characterization of human anti-cancer genes and mechanisms of cellular transformation.
Becoming more and more interested in investing and the markets, Dr. Benade began learning about arbitration. Becoming certified in arbitration and later NASD and the New York Stock Exchange later combined under the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), he began arbitrating cases and formed his own consulting firm shortly thereafter. He then became interested in mediation, ultimately making the decision to attend law school and earning his JD Cum Laude at the California School of Law in 2014. While there he was elected to Law Review earned a CALI Award in Constitutional Law.
Dr. Benade is a certified Veterans Affairs accredited agent, mediator of family financial services in the district court, advanced family practitioner, mediator of estates and guardianships in the Clerk of Court, mediator of the Superior Court, and mediator of workers' compensation for the NC Industrial Commission. He has spent time serving as a mediator for the district court with the The Conflict Resolution Center in Hickory, where he served as Co-Chairman of the Board and Interim Executive Director. He served as well on the Board of Directors of the Mediation Network of North Carolina and Co-Editor of "The Peacemaker," the North Carolina Bar Association dispute resolution section newsletter. He is active as a member of the Association for Conflict Resolution and the American Bar Association.
Dr. Benade has contributed many scientific papers and reviews in the field of science, was a referee for several scientific journals, a member of several government review panels and study sections, and served as an expert witness at congressional hearings several times. He has also provided training to groups and individuals in conflict resolution and mediation techniques and does speaking engagements upon request on various aspects of alternative dispute resolution. In 1915, he was honored with an Advanced Practitioner certification by the Academy of Family Mediators in 2015. For more information, please visit www.bhadr.com.
In recognition of outstanding contributions to his profession and the Marquis Who's Who community, Leonard E. Benade, Esq., has been featured on the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement website. Please visit www.ltachievers.com for more information about this honor.
About Marquis Who's Who :
Since 1899, when A. N. Marquis printed the First Edition of Who's Who in America , Marquis Who's Who has chronicled the lives of the most accomplished individuals and innovators from every significant field of endeavor, including politics, business, medicine, law, education, art, religion and entertainment. Today, Who's Who in America remains an essential biographical source for thousands of researchers, journalists, librarians and executive search firms around the world. Marquis publications may be visited at the official Marquis Who's Who website at vvww.marci uiswhoswho.com.
# # #