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CORVALLIS - Oregon State University researchers George S. Bailey and Jerry D. Hendricks will receive the 2001 Prince Hitachi Prize for Comparative Oncology for their work in studying mechanisms of cancer in rainbow trout.

Bailey and Hendricks are professors of environmental and molecular toxicology at OSU and leading researchers at an OSU fish research facility east of Corvallis. They have worked collaboratively for more than two decades - Bailey as a biochemist and Hendricks as a pathologist - using the trout as a model to study cancer and cancer prevention as they apply to human health.

The Hitachi Prize was established in 1995 by the Japanese Foundation for Cancer Research to commemorate the 60th birthday of Japan's Prince Hitachi, who long has been devoted to cancer research. The award is given annually to promote increased research in cancer and related fields. Its emphasis is on comparative oncology - the comparison of cancer among lower and higher vertebrate species.

The OSU researchers were nominated for the award based on their most recent work, which involved the largest cancer study ever to describe cancer risk at exceedingly low exposure doses. They are nationally known for their research on carcinogens in trout, which are a good "indicator" species for comparisons to human cancer factors.

Hendricks joined the OSU faculty in 1975; Bailey in 1979. They will travel to Japan in May to receive the award from Prince Hitachi.