Awards + Announcements

Whitehead Institute Member David Bartel is one of two scientists to receive the annual Louis-D. Prize from the Institut de France, an organization similar in many respects to the National Academy of Sciences in the United States.

The United States should follow the lead of Massachusetts in legalizing responsible human embryonic stem cell research, Senator Edward Kennedy declared on June 2 at Whitehead.

Whitehead Institute Interim Director David Page is one of 72 new members of the National Academy of Sciences elected in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.

2005 is off to a good start for Whitehead Member David Bartel. In January, he and his colleagues published a landmark paper in the journal Cell. A week later he was honored with the National Academy of Science's prestigious Award in Molecular Biology. And in March, Bartel was appointed Investigator for the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI).

Robert S. Langer, the Germeshausen Professor of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, has been named Institute Professor, the highest honor awarded by the MIT faculty and administration.

The U.S. National Academy of Sciences has recognized the work of Whitehead Member and MIT Professor of Biology David Bartel by presenting him the NAS Award in Molecular Biology. Each year a medal and a prize of $25,000 goes to a young scientist for a recent notable discovery in molecular biology.

It began as an experiment. Take a young scientist, unproven as an independent researcher, and give her the space, resources and support needed to launch a lab. Challenge her to take a risky project from idea to reality under her own steam. Then, as with any good experiment, examine the results.

Dr. Rudolf Jaenisch, a Member of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, and Dr. Mario Capecchi from University of Utah in Salt Lake City have received the prestigious Molecular Bioanalytic Prize from the Boehringer Mannheim Group in Germany. In awarding this prize, the Group cited the scientists' pioneering work in establishing transgenes as a basic tool for research in molecular biology and medicine.