Elisa Izaurralde awarded Ernst Jung Prize for Medicine 2012
Managing Director of the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology receives award for groundbreaking research in RNA biology
The Jung Foundation for Science and Research in Hamburg announced that the Ernst Jung Prize for Medicine 2012 will be shared by Elisa Izaurralde, director of the Department of Biochemistry at the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology in Tübingen and Peter Walter from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in San Francisco. Dr. Izaurralde is recognized for her contributions to the field of RNA-mediated gene regulation. The award, which carries a 150,000 Euro honorarium, will be presented at a ceremony on May 4th, 2012 in Hamburg.
The Ernst Jung Prize for Medicine was donated by Ernst Jung (1896-1976), a Hamburg-based shipping magnate. Since 1976, the Jung Foundation for Science and Research annually recognizes groundbreaking research in medicine and basic research. The foundation also conveys the Ernst Jung Medal to honour the lifetime achievement of scientists in medicine and the Ernst Jung Career Promotion Prize for medical research to successful junior scientists.
Prior to joining the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology as a director of the Department of Biochemistry in October 2005, Elisa Izaurralde conducted her research in RNA biology at the University of Geneva and at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg. Last month, she was appointed adjunct professor by the University of Tübingen.
Using animal cells as model systems, Elisa Izaurralde investigates the molecular mechanisms of gene regulation that take place after the basic genetic information coding for the structure of proteins has been transcribed into mRNA. Dr. Izaurralde's laboratory studies several aspects of mRNA regulation: the mechanisms of RNA export from the nucleus, the steps involved in mRNA quality control and stability, as well as RNA silencing, a process by which the binding of small RNA molecules to mRNA prevents protein production from this mRNA. Control of gene expression by small RNA molecules plays an important role in the pathogenesis of several human diseases. Understanding how they regulate gene expression is critical for evaluating their potential as therapeutic targets.
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