Wiley Prize
Encyclopedia
The Wiley Prize in Biomedical Sciences is intended to recognize breakthrough research in pure or applied life science research that is distinguished by its excellence, originality and impact on our understanding of biological systems and processes. The award may recognize a specific contribution or series of contributions that demonstrate the nominee’s significant leadership in the development of research concepts or their clinical application. Particular emphasis will be placed on research that champions novel approaches and challenges accepted thinking in the biomedical sciences.
The Wiley Foundation, established in 2001, is the endowing body that supports the Wiley Prize in Biomedical Sciences.
This international award is presented annually and consists of a $35,000 prize and a luncheon in honor of the recipient. The award is presented at a ceremony at The Rockefeller University
, where the recipient delivers an honorary lecture as part of the Rockefeller University Lecture Series.
As of 2009, five recipients have gone on to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
.
Dr. Lily Jan and Dr. Yuh Nung Jan of Howard Hughes Medical Institute at the University California, San Francisco for their molecular identification of a founding member of a family of potassium ion channels that control nerve cell activity throughout the animal kingdom.
2010
Dr. Peter Hegemann, Professor of Molecular Biophysics, Humboldt University, Berlin; Dr. Georg Nagel, Professor of Molecular Plant Physiology, Department of Botany, University of Würzburg; and Dr. Ernst Bamberg, Professor and Director of the Dept of Biophysical Chemistry, Max Planck Institute for Biophysics
, Frankfurt, Germany for their discovery of channelrhodopsins, a family of light-activated ion channels. The discovery has greatly enlarged and strengthened the new field of optogenetics. Channelrhodopsins also provide a high potential for biomedical applications such as the recovery of vision and optical deep brain stimulation for treatment of Parkinson’s and other diseases, instead of the more invasive electrode-based treatments.
2009
Dr. Bonnie Bassler
of the Department of Molecular Biology at Princeton University
and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute
. - For pioneering investigations of quorum sensing, a mechanism that allows bacteria to “talk” to each other to coordinate their behavior, even between species.
2008
Dr. Richard P. Lifton of the Yale University School of Medicine. - For the discovery of the genes that cause many forms of high and low blood pressure in humans.
2007
Dr. F. Ulrich Hartl, Director at the Max-Planck Institute of Biochemistry, in Munich, Germany, and Dr. Arthur L. Horwich
, Eugene Higgins Professor of Genetics and Pediatrics at the Yale University School of Medicine, and Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute. - For 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.
2006
Dr. Elizabeth H. Blackburn, Morris Herztein Professor of Biology and Physiology in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics at the University of California, San Francisco, and Dr. Carol Greider, Daniel Nathans Professor and Director of Molecular Biology & Genetics at Johns Hopkins University - For the discovery of telomerase, the enzyme that maintains chromosomal integrity and the recognition of its importance in aging, cancer and stem cell biology.
2005
Dr. Peter Walter
, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, and Professor and Chairman of the Department of Biochemistry & Biophysics at the University of California in San Francisco, and Dr. Kazutoshi Mori, a Professor of Biophysics, in the Graduate School of Science at Kyoto University, in Japan - For the discovery of the novel pathway by which cells regulate the capacity of their intracellular compartments to produce correctly folded proteins for export.
2004
C. David Allis
, Ph.D., Joy and Jack Fishman Professor, Laboratory of Chromatin Biology and Epigenetics at the Rockefeller University in New York - For the significant discovery that transcription factors can enzymatically modify histones to regulate gene activity.
2003
Dr. Andrew Z. Fire, of both the Carnegie Institution of Washington and the Johns Hopkins University
; Dr. Craig C. Mello, of the University of Massachusetts Medical School; Dr. Thomas Tuschl
, formerly of the Max-Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Goettingen, Germany, and most recently of The Rockefeller University; and Dr. David Baulcombe, of the Sainsbury Laboratory
at the John Innes Centre
in Norwich
, England - For contributions to discoveries of novel mechanisms for regulating gene expression by small interfering RNAs (siRNA).
2002
Dr. H. Robert Horvitz
of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Dr. Stanley J. Korsmeyer
of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute - For his seminal research on programmed cell death and the discovery that a genetic pathway accounts for the programmed cell death within an organism, and Dr. Korsmeyer was chosen for his discovery of the relationship between human lymphomas and the fundamental biological process of apoptosis. Notably, Dr. Korsmeyer's experiments established that blocking cell death plays a primary role in cancer.
The Wiley Foundation, established in 2001, is the endowing body that supports the Wiley Prize in Biomedical Sciences.
This international award is presented annually and consists of a $35,000 prize and a luncheon in honor of the recipient. The award is presented at a ceremony at The Rockefeller University
Rockefeller University
The Rockefeller University is a private university offering postgraduate and postdoctoral education. It has a strong concentration in the biological sciences. It is also known for producing numerous Nobel laureates...
, where the recipient delivers an honorary lecture as part of the Rockefeller University Lecture Series.
As of 2009, five recipients have gone on to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine administered by the Nobel Foundation, is awarded once a year for outstanding discoveries in the field of life science and medicine. It is one of five Nobel Prizes established in 1895 by Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, in his will...
.
Awards recipients
2011Dr. Lily Jan and Dr. Yuh Nung Jan of Howard Hughes Medical Institute at the University California, San Francisco for their molecular identification of a founding member of a family of potassium ion channels that control nerve cell activity throughout the animal kingdom.
2010
Dr. Peter Hegemann, Professor of Molecular Biophysics, Humboldt University, Berlin; Dr. Georg Nagel, Professor of Molecular Plant Physiology, Department of Botany, University of Würzburg; and Dr. Ernst Bamberg, Professor and Director of the Dept of Biophysical Chemistry, Max Planck Institute for Biophysics
Max Planck Institute for Biophysics
The Max Planck Institute for Biophysics is located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It was founded as Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Biophysics in 1937, and moved into a new building in 2003...
, Frankfurt, Germany for their discovery of channelrhodopsins, a family of light-activated ion channels. The discovery has greatly enlarged and strengthened the new field of optogenetics. Channelrhodopsins also provide a high potential for biomedical applications such as the recovery of vision and optical deep brain stimulation for treatment of Parkinson’s and other diseases, instead of the more invasive electrode-based treatments.
2009
Dr. Bonnie Bassler
Bonnie Bassler
Bonnie Lynn Bassler is an American molecular biologist. She has been a professor at Princeton University since 1994.Born in Chicago and raised in Danville, California, Bassler received a B.S. in biochemistry from the University of California, Davis and a Ph.D. in biochemistry from Johns Hopkins...
of the Department of Molecular Biology at Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Howard Hughes Medical Institute is a United States non-profit medical research organization based in Chevy Chase, Maryland. It was founded by the American businessman Howard Hughes in 1953. It is one of the largest private funding organizations for biological and medical research in the United...
. - For pioneering investigations of quorum sensing, a mechanism that allows bacteria to “talk” to each other to coordinate their behavior, even between species.
2008
Dr. Richard P. Lifton of the Yale University School of Medicine. - For the discovery of the genes that cause many forms of high and low blood pressure in humans.
2007
Dr. F. Ulrich Hartl, Director at the Max-Planck Institute of Biochemistry, in Munich, Germany, and Dr. Arthur L. Horwich
Arthur L. Horwich
Arthur L. Horwich is an American biologist and Eugene Higgins Professor of Genetics and Pediatrics at Yale School of Medicine. Horwich has also been a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator since 1990. His research into protein folding uncovered the action of chaperonins, protein complexes...
, Eugene Higgins Professor of Genetics and Pediatrics at the Yale University School of Medicine, and Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute. - For 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.
2006
Dr. Elizabeth H. Blackburn, Morris Herztein Professor of Biology and Physiology in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics at the University of California, San Francisco, and Dr. Carol Greider, Daniel Nathans Professor and Director of Molecular Biology & Genetics at Johns Hopkins University - For the discovery of telomerase, the enzyme that maintains chromosomal integrity and the recognition of its importance in aging, cancer and stem cell biology.
2005
Dr. Peter Walter
Peter Walter
Peter Walter is a German-American molecular biologist and biochemist. He earned a B.S. degree in chemistry from the Free University of Berlin, an M.S. degree in organic chemistry from Vanderbilt University, and a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the Rockefeller University...
, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, and Professor and Chairman of the Department of Biochemistry & Biophysics at the University of California in San Francisco, and Dr. Kazutoshi Mori, a Professor of Biophysics, in the Graduate School of Science at Kyoto University, in Japan - For the discovery of the novel pathway by which cells regulate the capacity of their intracellular compartments to produce correctly folded proteins for export.
2004
C. David Allis
C. David Allis
Charles David Allis is an American molecular biologist, and is currently the Joy and Jack Fishman Professor and Head of the Laboratory of Chromatin Biology and Epigenetics at The Rockefeller University. He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2001...
, Ph.D., Joy and Jack Fishman Professor, Laboratory of Chromatin Biology and Epigenetics at the Rockefeller University in New York - For the significant discovery that transcription factors can enzymatically modify histones to regulate gene activity.
2003
Dr. Andrew Z. Fire, of both the Carnegie Institution of Washington and the Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
; Dr. Craig C. Mello, of the University of Massachusetts Medical School; Dr. Thomas Tuschl
Thomas Tuschl
Thomas Tuschl is a German biochemist and Molecular biologist researching RNA.-Biography:Tuschl was born in Altdorf bei Nürnberg. After graduating in chemistry from Regensburg university Tuschl received his PhD in 1995 from Max Planck Institute for Experimental Medicine in Göttingen...
, formerly of the Max-Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Goettingen, Germany, and most recently of The Rockefeller University; and Dr. David Baulcombe, of the Sainsbury Laboratory
Sainsbury Laboratory
The Sainsbury Laboratory located at the John Innes Centre in Norwich, Norfolk, England is a world leading institute working on plant-microbe interactions....
at the John Innes Centre
John Innes Centre
The John Innes Centre located in Norwich, Norfolk, England is an independent centre for research and training in plant and microbial science...
in Norwich
Norwich
Norwich is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom...
, England - For contributions to discoveries of novel mechanisms for regulating gene expression by small interfering RNAs (siRNA).
2002
Dr. H. Robert Horvitz
H. Robert Horvitz
Howard Robert Horvitz is an American biologist best known for his research on the nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans.-Life:Horvitz did his undergraduate studies at MIT in 1968, where he joined Alpha Epsilon Pi...
of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Dr. Stanley J. Korsmeyer
Stanley J. Korsmeyer
Dr. Stanley J. Korsmeyer was an American oncologist. Through his studies of apoptosis, Korsmeyer helped develop the concepts of the role of programmed cell death in carcinogenesis...
of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute - For his seminal research on programmed cell death and the discovery that a genetic pathway accounts for the programmed cell death within an organism, and Dr. Korsmeyer was chosen for his discovery of the relationship between human lymphomas and the fundamental biological process of apoptosis. Notably, Dr. Korsmeyer's experiments established that blocking cell death plays a primary role in cancer.