Biography
Carolyn Widney Greider (born April 15, 1961) is an American molecular biologist and Nobel laureate. She is a Distinguished Professor of Molecular , Cell , and Developmental Biology [ 1 ] at the University of California, Santa Cruz . Greider discovered the enzyme telomerase in 1984, while she was a graduate student of Elizabeth Blackburn at the University of California, Berkeley . Greider pioneered research on the structure of telomeres , the ends of the chromosomes . She was awarded the 2009 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine , along with Blackburn and Jack W. Szostak , for their discovery that telomeres are protected from progressive shortening by the enzyme telomerase . [ 2 ] Greider was born in San Diego , California . [ 3 ] Both of her parents were academics. [ 4 ] Her father, Kenneth Greider, was a physics professor. [ 5 ] Her family moved from San Diego to Davis, California , where she spent many of her early years and graduated from Davis Senior High School in 1979. She graduated from the College of Creative Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara , with a B.A. in biology in 1983. During this time she also studied at the University of Göttingen and made significant discoveries there. [ 6 ] Education: University of California, Santa Barbara BA University of Göttingen University of California, Berkeley PhD
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