Biography
Arthur L. Horwich (born 1951) is an American biologist and Sterling Professor of Genetics and Pediatrics at the Yale School of Medicine . [ 2 ] [ 3 ] Horwich has also been a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator since 1990. [ 4 ] His research into protein folding uncovered the action of chaperonins , protein complexes that assist the folding of other proteins; Horwich first published this work in 1989. [ 5 ] [ 6 ] For his scientific work Horwich has been awarded the Gairdner International Award (2004), Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize (2008), Lasker Award (2011), [ 7 ] Shaw Prize (2012), Albany Medical Center Prize (2016), and Breakthrough Prize (2020). He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences . [ 8 ] [ 9 ] Horwich was born in 1951. He grew up in Oak Park , west of Chicago. [ 10 ] In 1969, he entered Brown University as part of a new program that combined the undergraduate degree with medical school. [ 10 ] During medical school, Horwich studied fat cell metabolism in the laboratory of John Fain. Horwich received his A.B. in biomedical sciences in 1972 and his M.D. in 1975. [ 2 ] [ 4 ] He graduated as valedictorian of the first class to complete the combined program. [ 10 ] Horwich went on to do an internship and residency in pediatrics at Yale University . Midway through, Horwich was not sure about an entirely clinical future. After completing his residency, he joined the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, California for a postdoctoral position in molecular biology and virology. [ 10 ] At Salk, he worked in Walter Eckhart's laboratory alongside Tony Hunter and witnessed Hunter's discovery of tyrosine phosphorylation. [ 10 ] He credits this time with sharpening his skills as a scientist. He said, "Tony taught me the nuts and bolts of thinking about a problem." [ 10 ] Fields: Biology
About the Lasker Award
The Lasker Awards have been awarded annually since 1946 to living persons who have made major contributions to medical science or who have performed public service on behalf of medicine. They are administered by the Lasker Foundation, founded by advertising pioneer Albert Lasker and his wife Mary Woodard Lasker (a medical research activist). The awards are sometimes referred to as "America's Nobels."
Quick Facts
- Award: Lasker Award - Basic Medical Research
- Added: 2026-02-07
- Source: Wikipedia
- Established: 1946
- Presented by: Lasker Foundation