Biography
Peter Hegemann (born 11 December 1954) is a Hertie Senior Research Chair for Neurosciences and a professor of Experimental Biophysics at the Department of Biology , Faculty of Life Sciences , Humboldt University of Berlin , Germany. [ 3 ] [ 4 ] He is known for his discovery of channelrhodopsin , a type of ion channels regulated by light , thereby serving as a light sensor. This created the field of optogenetics , a technique that controls the activities of specific neurons by applying light. He has received numerous accolades, including the Rumford Prize , the Shaw Prize in Life Science and Medicine , and the Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research . Hegemann was born in Münster in 1954, but grew up in Aachen . [ 5 ] Many in his immediate and extended family are doctors, including his parents, brother, and both grandfathers. He was educated in a humanities-oriented gymnasium ( humanistisches Gymnasium ) for secondary school, which he disliked for his lack of interest in classical studies . [ 5 ] He liked science subjects and was at first interested in discovery of new territories and then in the outer space . Eventually, he went to the University of Münster in 1975 to study chemistry , transferring to the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich two years later to switch to biochemistry . [ 5 ] After graduating in 1980, Hegemann pursued his PhD at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry in the research group of Dieter Oesterhelt , [ 5 ] who has just become the Director of the institute. [ 6 ] He completed it in 1984. [ 7 ] Fields: Biophysics, Optogenetics
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