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February 04, 2008

Seventh Annual Wiley Prize in Biomedical Sciences Awarded to Dr. Richard P. Lifton

Hoboken, N.J.

Deborah E. Wiley, Chairman of The Wiley Foundation, and Senior Vice President, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., announced today that the seventh annual Wiley Prize in Biomedical Sciences will be awarded to Dr. Richard P. Lifton of the Yale University School of Medicine.

Dr. Lifton, Chairman of the Department of Genetics, and Sterling Professor of Genetics and Internal Medicine, at the Yale University School of Medicine, and Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, was chosen for his discovery of the genes that cause many forms of high and low blood pressure in humans.

The Wiley Prize in Biomedical Sciences recognizes contributions that have opened new fields of research or have advanced novel concepts or their applications in a particular biomedical discipline. It honors a specific contribution or a series of contributions that demonstrate significant leadership and innovation. The award will be presented to Dr. Lifton on April 4, 2008, at The Rockefeller University, in New York City. Dr. Lifton, who has also been invited to present a public lecture that day at The Rockefeller University, will receive a $35,000 grant from the Wiley Foundation.

"The Wiley Prize is being awarded to Dr. Lifton for identifying multiple genes in humans that are linked to high and low blood pressure," said Dr. Günter Blobel, Chairman of the awards jury for the Wiley Prize. "All of the genes identified are involved in the regulation of salt balance by the kidney. Dr. Lifton's findings highlight the importance of dietary salt in the causation of hypertension, a major risk factor in cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death worldwide" he continued.

Dr. Blobel, a John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Professor of Cell Biology at The Rockefeller University, was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1999. The Wiley Prize awards jury also includes Dr. Qais Al-Awqati, a physiologist at Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons, Dr. David J. Anderson, a developmental neurobiologist at the California Institute of Technology, Dr. Joan A. Steitz, a molecular biologist at Yale University, and Professor Kay E. Davies, a human geneticist at the University of Oxford, U.K.

Last year's Wiley Prize recipients were Dr. F. Ulrich Hartl, Director at the Max-Planck Institute of Biochemistry, in Munich, Germany, and Dr. Arthur L. Horwich, Eugene Higgins Professor of Cellular and Molecular Physiology at the Yale University School of Medicine, and Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute for their elucidation of the molecular machinery that guides proteins into their proper functional shape, thereby preventing the accumulation of protein aggregates that underlie many diseases, such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

Among the many distinguished past recipients of The Wiley Prize in Biomedical Sciences, three have also been awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Dr. Andrew Z. Fire and Dr. Craig C. Mello, co-recipients of the Wiley Prize in 2003, received the 2006 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their discovery of RNA interference ¿ gene silencing by double-stranded RNA. Dr. H. Robert Horvitz, a co-recipient of the Wiley Prize in 2002, shared the 2002 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his respective work on how genes regulate organ development and cell death.

Wiley recently concluded its year-long bicentennial celebration--an event that was marked by the publication of the Company's history, Knowledge For Generations: Wiley and the Global Publishing Industry 1807-2007; the launch of an online community www.wiley.com/go/livinghistory, to capture untold and ongoing Wiley history, past, present, and future; ringing the Closing Bell at the New York Stock Exchange; and an array of festivities that spanned four continents and ten countries. In 2007, Wiley also completed the acquisition of Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Merged with Wiley's Scientific, Technical, and Medical business, the newly formed Wiley-Blackwell is a global publishing business with deep strength in every major academic and professional field.

The Wiley Foundation and The Wiley Prize in Biomedical Sciences were established in 2001 to acknowledge the contributions of the scholarly community to the Company's corporate success. Through this award Wiley seeks to recognize and foster ongoing excellence in scientific achievement and discovery.

About Wiley
Founded in 1807, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. has been a valued source of information and understanding for 200 years; helping people around the world meet their needs and fulfill their aspirations. Since 1901, Wiley and its acquired companies have published the works of more than 350 Nobel laureates in all categories: Literature, Economics, Physiology or Medicine, Physics, Chemistry, and Peace.

Our core businesses publish scientific, technical, medical and scholarly journals, encyclopedias, books, and online products and services; professional/trade books, subscription products, training materials, and online applications and websites; and educational materials for undergraduate and graduate students and lifelong learners. Wiley's global headquarters are located in Hoboken, New Jersey, with operations in the U.S., Europe, Asia, Canada, and Australia. The Company¿s Web site can be accessed at www.wiley.com, and its online visitors' forum can be accessed at www.wiley.com/go/livinghistory. Wiley is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbols JWa and JWb.