Dr. Richard Gatti, professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine, received a lifetime achievement award from the A-T (Ataxia-Telangiectasia) Medical Research Foundation on Oct. 23.

Gatti, of Sherman Oaks, Calif., was recognized for his pioneering efforts in cloning the A-T gene and his continued progress in researching new therapies for the genetic disorder. Gatti’s laboratory performs prenatal testing for A-T and is the world leader in confirming suspected diagnoses of the disease.

Ataxia-Telangiectasia is a progressively degenerative, life-shortening neurological and immunological disease that strikes children before the age of 3, causing a severe loss of balance. By the age of 10, most children with A-T are confined to a wheelchair.

The gene that causes A-T is also a cancer gene, and one in three children with the disease develop lymphoma or leukemia. Carriers of the gene are eight times more likely to develop cancer than the general population.