2018 Ceremony
PEARL MEISTER GREENGARD PRIZE
An International Award Recognizing Outstanding Women in Biomedical Research
6:00 p.m. Registration
6:30 – 7:30 p.m. Ceremony
7:30 – 8:00 p.m. Reception
Free Admission
Caspary Auditorium
1230 York Avenue at 66th Street
New York City
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2018 PRIZE RECIPIENT
Jennifer A. Doudna, Ph.D.
Li Ka Shing Chancellor’s Chair in Biomedical and Health Sciences
Professor of Chemistry and Molecular & Cell Biology
University of California, Berkeley
Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Jennifer Doudna is perhaps best known for her work on the CRISPR gene-editing technology that has sparked a scientific revolution. CRISPR, though, is but one accomplishment in a remarkable career illuminating multifaceted RNA molecules in action. From her time as a Harvard graduate student, Dr. Doudna has displayed an ingenious capacity to reveal the structural basis of RNA function. She was the first person in 20 years of attempts to succeed in detailing the intricacies of a large RNA molecule, showing that—contrary to expectations—it had a defined, organized architecture. Her exploration of ribozymes, or RNA enzymes, delineated how these molecules are folded to perform their protein-like roles. From her studies of self-replicating RNA to her more recent focus on the RNA of hepatitis C and other viruses, Dr. Doudna has catalyzed change and opened new research directions.Dr. Doudna is a professor at the University of California, Berkeley; a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator; and director of the Innovative Genomics Institute, a joint UC Berkeley–UC San Francisco center. She has received many honors including the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences and the Gruber Prize in Genetics. Dr. Doudna is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Medicine, and the National Academy of Inventors.
SPECIAL GUEST PRESENTER
Agnes Gund
President Emerita, Museum of Modern Art
Founder and Chair, Studio in a School
Founding Donor, Art for Justice Fund
The Pearl Meister Greengard Prize, awarded annually by The Rockefeller University, was established by Dr. Paul Greengard, the University’s Vincent Astor Professor, and his wife, the sculptor Ursula von Rydingsvard. Dr. Greengard donated his monetary share of the 2000 Nobel Prize in Medicine to Rockefeller and, in partnership with generous supporters of the University, created this major international prize. The prize is name in memory of Dr. Greengard’s mother, who died giving birth to him.
