Since 1945, the Lasker Foundation has highlighted how basic biological discoveries drive innovative clinical therapies and techniques and how science stokes our curiosity about the intricate and often beautiful processes that underlie all life forms.
Over the course of their seven decades, the Lasker Awards have come to be known as “America’s Nobels,” in part because of their standing as America’s most prestigious biomedical research awards, and in part because those selected so often go on to win the Nobel Prize. Eighty-eight Lasker laureates have received the Nobel Prize, including 41 in the last three decades. Today, that number has increased by three.
The 2019 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine jointly awarded William G. Kaelin Jr, Sir Peter J. Ratcliffe and Gregg L. Semenza “for their discoveries of how cells sense and adapt to oxygen availability” today. They identified molecular machinery that regulates the activity of genes in response to varying levels of oxygen.
In 2016, the NIH Oxford-Cambridge/Wellcome Trust (WT) scholars had the opportunity to attend the Lasker Awards which honored these three physician-scientists for their discovery of the pathway by which cells from human and most animals sense and adapt to changes in oxygen availability, a process that is essential for survival. Alumni David Bulger, Joanna Cross, Alexander Weiss, Andrew Breglio, Keval Patel and Huayu Ding conversed with the 2019 Nobel Laureates, along with Ralf F. W. Bartenschlager, Charles M. Rice, Michael J. Sofia, and Bruce M. Alberts who all received the 2016 Lasker Awards.
The Alliance congratulates William G. Kaelin Jr., Sir Peter Ratcliffe and Gregg L. Semenza, as well as, all of the winners of the 2019 Nobel Prize.
The Dr. Richard and Vera Siegel Translational Award was generously endowed by NIH MD/PhD Partnership Program Co-Founder, Dr. Richard Siegel and his wife, Vera. First awarded in 2016, this annual award recognizes advances in the field of medical science that move fundamental discoveries from the bench to the bedside. The recipient of the Translational Award for 2019 was NIH-Cambridge Scholar Zinan Zhang. Zinan is an OxCam Class of 2017 Scholar and MD/PhD student at the Harvard Medical School. He is mentored by Dr. Michael Lenardo of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and Prof. Ken Smith of the Cambridge Department of Medicine.
Zinan coordinated a multinational collaboration between the United Kingdom, the United States, Saudi Arabia, New Zealand, and France to collect a group of pediatric patients that all have a novel genetic disease that he discovered involving the deficiency of the IL-2 receptor beta (IL2RB) chain. In addition to defining this new disease and demonstrating the molecular mechanism of defective IL-2 signaling in different patients, he developed novel insights into receptor function in different immune cell subsets. He was able to show how three different IL2RB mutations can cause IL2RB deficiency by three distinct mechanisms. Interestingly, one hypomorphic IL2RB mutation differentially affected T cells and Natural Killer cell subsets. In addition, lentiviral gene transfer was able to rescue the disease phenotype in patient cells.
Zinan’s work has opened a new area for translational research for this primary immunodeficiency disease. To learn more about his research and findings, he recently published a first-author publication in The Journal of Experimental Medicine.
We congratulate Zinan on both his accolades, as he was also awarded the Best Talk at the Annual Workshop and wish him continued success in his doctoral career.
First awarded in 2016 and sponsored annually by the Board of Directors of the International Biomedical Research Alliance, the Innovation Award recognizes novel solutions in biology or medicine and is presented for discovers of unusual importance, application, or magnitude that make use of new or unusual methods, paradigms or approaches to solve important problems in biology or medicine. This year, the Innovation Award was presented to NIH-Cambridge Scholar, and El-Hibri Biomedical Research Scholar, Michael Fernandopulle. Michael is a Class of 2016 scholar pursuing a MD/PhD (MD in progress) at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. His mentors are Dr. Michael Ward, of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, and Dr. Peter St George-Hyslop of the Department of Clinical Neurosciences at Cambridge.
Michael discovered that Annexin A11, a protein implicated in familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), enables long-range transport of RNA molecules in neuronal axons. Annexin A11 serves to tether RNA, which exists in the cell within “liquid droplets” of protein, to lysosomes, which are organelles that move bidirectionally along neuronal processes. This discovery illuminated a previously uncharacterized process that is critical for the long-term survival and maintenance of neurons, and that appears to be disrupted in neurodegenerative diseases. Michael’s study is also the first description of a protein that can function as a tether between “membraneless” liquid droplets and a membranous organelle.
Michael is currently investigating the biophysical regulation of Annexin A11 function. He is broadly interested in how metabolic regulation and membrane trafficking influence neuronal cell biology. After medical school, Michael plans to pursue a neurology residency on his way to establishing an independent research group.
We wish Michael continued success in his research and doctoral career!
The Gregory Paul Lenardo Basic Science Award was graciously endowed by NIH Oxford-Cambridge Scholars Program Co-Founder, Dr. Michael Lenardo, in loving memory of his brother. First awarded in 2016, this annual award recognizes discoveries of fundamental cellular, molecular, or genetic processes using model systems that advance scientific understanding of biological processes in higher organisms. This year at the Annual Workshop, the recipient of the Gregory Paul Lenardo Basic Science Award was NIH-Cambridge and MarshallScholarNicholas Ader. Nick is a Class of 2015 scholar, mentored by Dr. Richard Youle of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and Dr. Wanda Kukulski of the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology at the University of Cambridge.
Nick implemented novel imaging techniques in an effort to better understand how a cell dies. When a cell is no longer needed, it is programed to self-destruct via a process known as apoptosis. Nick’s work to push the limits of cellular imaging has not only provided striking views of this process, but has led to a better understanding of how apoptosis occurs. In their paper published in the scientific journal, eLife, Nick and his mentors describe how the imaging data they collected suggests a new model for how the proteins involved in apoptosis reorganize mitochondrial membranes to set the process of cell death in motion.
Nick successfully defended his thesis in June. In September, he will begin a postdoctoral fellowship in the lab of Patrick Lusk and Megan King in the Department of Cell Biology at Yale School of Medicine. There, he will continue to address basic questions in cell biology by investigating how the compartment that contains a cell’s DNA, the nuclear envelope, is maintained and how this maintenance may fail during cancer.
We wish Dr. Ader continued success and look forward to his accomplishments in the future.
With a backdrop steeped in history at the oldest English-speaking university, the Annual Research Workshop for the NIH Oxford-Cambridge Scholars and Wellcome Trust Programme was held at Keble College, at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom, June 25-27th, 2019. This year over 120 students, alumni, faculty mentors, administrators, and Alliance Directors traveled to Oxford to attend the Workshop.
On the morning of June 25th, the Workshop opened with keynote Prof. Anna Gloyn, who presented her work on Genetics, Diabetes, and Metabolism. Prof. Gloyn is internationally known for her collaborative work leading multiple consortia involved in genetic and target discovery for Type 2 diabetes, working closely with academia, pharma, and SMEs. While Prof. Gloyn’s work itself was fascinating, her generous sharing and personal commentary truly struck a chord with the Scholars. She spoke candidly about how to be a good collaborator, finding a “champion,” striving to enjoy your life inside and outside of the lab, and selecting high impact/high reward tasks.
The Workshop communicated a continuous theme of meeting challenges as opportunities with talks on impactful research and career pathways from invited guest speakers. In a session entitled “Career Pathways and Career Breaks,” Dr. Cynthia Wright Drakesmith, a data scientist at the University of Oxford, detailed her seven-year hiatus from the lab in order to raise her two children and her triumphant return as a Daphne Jackson Fellow to retrain as a computational biologist. Dr. Charvy Narain introduced a session on science communication, describing her career from Nature journal editor to managing media coverage and public engagement for a variety of scientific research.
Special attention was given to Alumna Dr. Melody Duvall, Class of ’03, when she shared with the audience her ever-evolving career as a physician-scientist working at the intersection of pediatric critical care and research on lung inflammation in children. She shared her tips for the journey and highlighted the importance of mentorship, listening to your heart (and gut), and surrounding yourself with “people you would like to be” in ten plus years. The Scholars were enamored with the very accomplished Dr. Duvall, and scheduled follow-up meetings to talk to her further about her advice and to learn from her experience in the program. Another program alumnus, Dr. Andrew Ishizuka, Class of ’14, discussed his career path from academia to founding a spin-out, highlighting his biotech company Avidea Technologies and speaking about how he became interested in pursuing a career in science. The last talk in the career pathway series was delivered by Dr. Andrew Jermy, a former Nature Chief Editor, who highlighted careers in publishing. He provided the pros and cons of being a publisher including these pros: traveling, being family friendly, having job security, and establishing connections.
As is customary, the centerpiece of the Annual Research Workshop is highlighting student research projects. Over the course of the Workshop, fourteen students in advanced stages of their research, gave formal presentations on their work, followed by a question and answer period. Poster sessions provided yet another opportunity for students to interact around their research and to welcome the new members of the Class of 2019 on their first Workshop experience.
On the final day of the workshop, the morning session was kicked off by Prof. Maureen Kelley who discussed ethical research in developing countries. Later in the day, Alliance Director Tom Heyman chaired the Entrepreneurship and Business Spinouts panel. The panel featured topics across transitioning from academia to becoming an entrepreneur, as well as, learning about the Oxford Foundry and programs they support. Zoologist Dr. Manuel Berdoy discussed the design of experiments in his talk: “How NOT to Ruin a Perfectly Good Idea.” The final talk of the workshop was given by Prof. Richard Wade-Martins who presented: “Parkinsons in a Dish – from Molecular Mechanisms to Target Discovery.” The Annual Workshop concluded with a final poster session and a lively, well-attended Town Hall Meeting for all students and faculty in the program.
In the evening, before the formal gala dinner, students assembled for the traditional photograph of the full cohort on the Keble lawn, as well as some less than serious group shots. Students, mentors, administrators, as well as, members of the Alliance Board of Directors and guests were treated to an elegant dinner reception opened with a warm welcome from Prof. Gavin Screaton, Head of the Medical Sciences Division at the University of Oxford. Prof. Screaton recognized and thanked Prof. Sarah Rowland Jones for her many years of leadership as the Program Director at Oxford. Prof. Michael Dustin was officially welcomed, taking up the leadership mantel at Oxford. Awards were presented with Scholars Taylor Farley and Zinan Zhang recognized as delivering the best poster and best research talk awards, respectively. The much-anticipated annual science recognition awards were announced. Details on the winners can be found in a separate article on this page.
On behalf of the Alliance, the University of Oxford and the Scholars Program, we extend our thanks to Celgene and WCG for their generosity in supporting the Workshop.
On the eve of the NIH Oxford-Cambridge/Wellcome Trust Scholar’s Annual Research Workshop, students were invited to attend the University of Oxford Department of Physiology, Anatomy, and Genetics hosted Sherrington Prize Lecture 2019, which honored Dr. Jennifer Doudna, HHMI Investigator and faculty member at UC Berkeley. The Sherrington Prize Lecture was named after Sir Charles Scott Sherrington, who was a distinguished University of Oxford professor and received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1932 for showing that reflexes require integrated activation and demonstrated reciprocal innervation of muscles, a principle now known as “Sherrington’s Law.” Dr. Doudna was in town to receive an honorary degree from the University of Oxford at the annual Encaenia event.
In 2012, Dr. Doudna, alongside her colleagues, described a new way of editing the DNA of any organism using an RNA-guided protein found in bacteria. This technology, called CRISPR-Cas9, is transforming biology, creating the ability to tackle both human and non-human applications of gene editing.
The focus of Dr. Doudna’s talk was CRISPR Biology and Biotoechnology and the future of genome editing. Genome editing with CRISPR technology is transforming biology, CRISPR-Cas9, an RNA-guided enzyme with remarkable abilities to recognize and cleave DNA, operates by mechanisms that both explain its biological function and provide insights into technology development. Dr. Doudna discussed research into this amazing family of proteins: where they came from, how they work, and how Cas9-based technologies are revolutionizing research, biomedicine, and agriculture.
“I’ve been impressed with how Dr. Doudna has responsibly engaged with broad audiences about biomedical ethics and science communication surrounding CRISPR” stated NIH-Oxford Scholar Lauren Wedekind. “After hearing her work and insights featured in Radiolab and Freakonomics podcasts, I was also glad to hear her discuss the various experiments and publications that contributed to CRISPR and CRISPRi methods and applications–and welcome questions from local high school students. This is a great example of how researchers can share their thought processes and findings, and address how complicated the interpretations and applications can be.”
“It was great to hear from Dr. Doudna three years after her talk at the Beyond the Bench symposia at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory” stated Manager Ambrico. “CRISPR technology has advanced immensely over the past few years and it was fascinating to see new discoveries and applications, including highlights of research done by my former colleagues. I was even more impressed with Dr. Doudna, when she took the time to meet with and engage with students from high school to PhD level, after her lecture.” She even autographed a notebook for one OxCam fan of her work!
UC Berkley Distinguished Professor Jennifer Doudna is an Investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and a Foreign Member of the Royal Society. She has received many honors including the prestigious Kavli Prize, the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences, the Heineken Prize, the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award and the Japan Prize. She is the co-author with Sam Sternberg of “A Crack in Creation”, a personal account of her research and the societal and ethical implications of gene editing.
Special thanks to Colin Beesley for the photographs.
