- The ARC - California Edition -

Koch Receives "H. Russell Smith Award"

Cohorts, friends and family of prevention advocate Richard Koch, MD, were thrilled to attend the award ceremony this spring where Koch received the prestigious H. RUSSELL SMITH AWARD FOR INNOVATION IN PEDIATRIC BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH. Koch had been picked to receive this award by his research peers.

The award was established in 1988 to recognize individual scientists who have made outstanding contributions in the field of pediatric research at Children's Hospital Los Angeles.

Koch obtained his doctorate degree from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and joined Children's Hospital in 1951 as an intern in Pediatrics.

It was during these early times of training at CHLA that Dr. Koch developed his interest in preventing mental retardation and organized diagnostic clinics for the developmentally disabled in all 13 southern California counties. He also served as the Director of the first Regional Center for the Developmentally Disabled for Los Angeles County.

During this period he started focusing his attention on phyenylketonuria, (PKU), a meta-bolic disease in which a faulty gene allows too much of the amino acid phenylalanine to build up in the blood, resulting in brain damage.

Dr. Richard Koch's academic career has been largely dedicated to the study of the importance of a phenylalanine restricted diet in treating children with PKU and later in studying the effect of phenylalanine during pregnancy of PKU mothers. Koch is well known for his work in phenylketonuria and is often referred to nationally and internationally as Dr. PKU.

Largely through the pioneering efforts of Koch’s colleague, Dr. Robert Guthrie, 99% of all newborns in California are now being tested for this disorder. The early legislation that enabled this effort was authored by California Senator LeRoy Green of Sacramento, who is presently authoring SB537 to expand the current newborn screening program to include 16 additional metabolic disorders. Koch has been very active in sponsoring and advocating for the numerous pieces of legislation it has taken to achieve the existing newborn screening programs.

In California alone, over 8 million infants have been tested for the PKU disorder since the inception of the screening program. Almost all of the people born in California, who are now younger than 35-years-old, have been tested for PKU through a program established with the sponsorship of Dick Koch. Koch has also taken the time to author/co-author more than 158 publications, 53 book chapters, and 3 books.

Koch is a member of numerous associations, national and local, that focus on the problems of mental retardation. One of these organizations is The Arc, and during the mid-1960's he served in the positions of both local chapter, and state chapter President.

Dick Koch was born in North Dakota, but soon his parents moved to Petaluma, California where he grew up with his eight brothers and sisters.

After graduation in 1941 from Petaluma High, he soon found himself in the US Army Air Force. He flew 13 missions over Germany in a B-24 until he was shot down, captured, and imprisoned. As a result, Koch spent 13 months in captivity and had plenty of time to hone his skills in persistence, a skill that became valuable in his later activities of research and advocacy.

Dr. Koch's passion for scientific inquiry and devotion to pediatric health care extends to his wife, Jean Koch, who recently authored a book entitled Robert Guthrie: The PKU Story.


We at ARC-California are pleased to join in honoring Dr. Koch at this time for his tireless dedication to the medical profession, and to thank him for the difference he has made in the lives of children around the world.