Yale Bulletin and Calendar

April 14, 2006|Volume 34, Number 26

Joan Steitz, Thomas Pollard win
prestigious international prize

Two Yale biologists will receive 2006 Gairdner International Awards, among the most prestigious prizes in science, for their breakthrough research on RNAs, cell motility and hormones.

"The 2006 awards honor outstanding achievements in our understanding of our cells with major ramifications for cancer, nutrition, autoimmune disease, atherosclerosis and hormone action," said John Dirks, president of the Gairdner Foundation. The awards will be presented on Oct. 26 in Toronto.

Joan A. Steitz, Sterling Professor of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, will be honored for her "discovery of the reactivity of autoimmune sera with nuclear riboprotein particles and elucidation of the rules of small nuclear RNA in gene expression."

Dr. Thomas D. Pollard, Sterling Professor and chair of the Department of Molecular Cellular and Developmental Biology, will be recognized -- along with Alan Hall, chair of the Cell Biology Program at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York -- for "discoveries related to understanding the cytoskeleton of the cell and the basis of cell motility and its relevance to human disease."

The Gairdner Foundation was established in 1957 by Toronto businessman James A. Gairdner, whose lifelong practical interest in clinical medicine and medical research led to his conviction that the achievements of medical scientists should be acknowledged in a tangible way.

Since 1959, the Gairdner International Awards have honored outstanding contributions by medical scientists worldwide whose work will significantly improve the quality of life. Of the 279 Gairdner winners, 65 have gone on to win the Nobel Prize.

Awardees are chosen in a two-stage process, through two medical advisory committees of leading Canadian and international medical scientists. Each prize carries a cash award of $CDN 30,000 (about U.S. $25,700). As part of the Gairdner's mandate to communicate the work of medical researchers, each October award winners visit universities across Canada and present academic lectures on their area of expertise.

In 2004, a Gairdner Award went to another member of the Yale faculty, Dr. Arthur L. Horwich, the Higgins Professor of Genetics and Pediatrics and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, for his "fundamental discoveries concerning chaperone assisted protein folding in the cell and its relevance to neurodegeneration."

Since 2003, the lead national sponsor of the Gairdner awards has been the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the major agency responsible for funding health research in Canada, which supports the work of 10,000 researchers in universities, teaching hospitals and research institutes across that nation.

T H I SW E E K ' SS T O R I E S

It's Official. President of China to speak April 21

As HHMI Professor, Strobel will take students 'bioprospecting'

Scientists find gene linked to drug dependence

Program puts FOCUS on communication

Joan Steitz, Thomas Pollard win prestigious international prize spirit

Renowned poet W.S. Merwin to read from and discuss his work

A heroine's determination prevails in 'All's Well That Ends Well'

Event will examine how to preserve access to knowledge

Performances and workshops will explore 'theatrical bodies' . . .

Symposium on human rights will focus on memorializing atrocities

Talk, exhibit explore lessons learned from past flu outbreaks

SOM conference will examine globalization and technology

India's road to independence is topic of film, panel discussion

Dwight Hall fundraiser to include inaugural social justice award

Symposium to look at 'Success with Learning Differences'

Impact of bird-borne infections on wildlife conservation is topic of forum

Panel discussion will focus on 'Class, Race and Inequality in South Africa'

Trainer describes biker Lance Armstrong's winning ways

Tsunami Awareness Week raised funds and refocused humanitarian efforts

Campus Notes

Wangari Maathai lecture cancelled