The Richard Lounsbery Award is given to
American and
Frenchscientists, 45 years or younger, in recognition of "extraordinary scientific achievement in
biology and
medicine."[1]
The Award alternates between French and American scientists, and is awarded by the
National Academy of Sciences and the
French Academy of Sciences in alternating years to a scientist from the other country. The award is selected by a seven-member jury representing both the French and the US Academies. The recipient receives a $75,000 prize, funding to visit a lab or research institution in the awarding country, and an invitation to give the Lounsbery Lecture in the awarding country.
2024
Jean-Léon Maître, for outstanding and innovative work in mammalian developmental biology.
2023
Michelle Monje, for her groundbreaking discoveries that neuronal activity promotes adaptive myelination important for cognition, and that neuronal activity drives malignant glioma progression through neuron-to-glioma synapses and paracrine factors. These contributions have elucidated new perspectives in neuroscience and pioneered the field of cancer neuroscience.
2022
Claire Wyart, for her outstanding research on the sensory interface between the central nervous system and cerebrospinal fluid that controls our posture and movements.
2021
Feng Zhang, for his pioneering achievements in the field of genome editing, including the discovery of novel CRISPR systems and their development as molecular tools.
2020
Marie Manceau [
fr], for her work in developmental biology, in particular training and evolution of periodic patterns on the plumage of birds.[3]
2019
Jay Shendure, for his pioneering work and leadership in the second wave of genomics that is transforming genetics and medicine. Through his development of exome sequencing and other novel technologies, he has defined new paradigms for implicating Mendelian disease genes, interpreting genetic variation, and single cell profiling of developmental lineages and gene regulation in whole organisms.
2018
Yohanns Bellaïche [
Wikidata], For his work on the genetic and mechanical regulation that underlies tissue proliferation, homeostasis and repair in physiological and pathological conditions (using a combination of interdisciplinary approaches involving sophisticated imaging, genetics, large-scale molecular approaches, and computational analyses) including the mechanisms of local and long-range mechano-sensing during cytokinesis that remodel the dividing cell adherens junction.
2016
Bruno Klaholz [
Wikidata], for his work in Structural Biology (by X-ray diffraction and cryo-electron microscopy methods) on the regulation of gene expression at both the transcriptional level (structures of the nuclear receptors to retinoic acid and vitamin D) and the protein translation level (initiation and termination complexes, and the structure of the human ribosome).
2015
Hopi Hoekstra, for her work probing the molecular basis of how adaptation to novel
selective pressures establishes and sustains diversity during
evolution.
2013
Karl Deisseroth, for pioneering the technology called
optogenetics in which insertion of a single
bacterial protein into a
neuron allows exquisite control of the neuron with light.
2012
Olivier Pourquié [
Wikidata], for his work in embryonic patterning in
vertebrates and particularly in the genetic and developmental mechanisms that control segmentation.
2011
Bonnie L. Bassler, for her pioneering discoveries of the universal use of chemical communication among bacteria and the elucidation of structural and regulatory mechanisms controlling bacterial assemblies.
2010
Gérard Karsenty, for his work on the molecular mechanisms that underlie the formation and the remodeling of bone.
2009
Cornelia I. Bargmann, for her extraordinarily inventive and successful use of molecular and classical genetics to probe the individual nerve cell basis of behavior in
C. elegans.
2008
Jean-Laurent Casanova [
fr;
de], for his contributions to the understanding the genetic basis of the predisposition to viral and bacterial diseases of childhood, which have important clinical implications for the diagnostic and management of infectious diseases.
2007
Xiaodong Wang, for his pioneering biochemical studies on
apoptosis, which have elucidated a molecular pathway leading into and out of the
mitochondrion and to the
nucleus.
2006
Catherine Dulac, for her major contributions in the perception and behavioral translation of
pheromones in mammals.
2005
John Kuriyan, for his critical role in revealing the structural mechanisms underlying processivity in
DNA replication and the regulation of
tyrosine kinases and their interacting target proteins.
2004
Brigitte Kieffer, for her pioneering work on the molecular neurobiology of opioid-controlled behaviors, the results of which have very important implications for the treatment of pain, drug abuse, and emotional disorders.
2002
Denis Le Bihan, for his work on the invention and development of nuclear
magnetic resonance imaging of brain diffusion and perfusion. The method he developed permits in vivo mapping of nerve fiber bundles and has multiple applications in both medical pathology and cognitive science fields.
2001
Elaine Fuchs, for her fundamental insights into structure and function of
cytoskeletal proteins and the relation of these proteins to human genetic diseases.
2000
Miroslav Radman, for his contribution to the discovery of the molecular mechanisms implicated in the replication and repair of DNA, in particular, the discovery of a key enzyme of the DNA repair mechanism.
1999
Elliot M. Meyerowitz, for his pioneering contributions to the molecular genetics of plant architecture, which have practical implications for agriculture.
1998
Pascale Cossart, for her fundamental discoveries in microbiology dealing with mechanisms of bacterial entry and intracellular host motility.
1997
James E. Rothman, for his dissection of the biochemical mechanisms by which proteins are transferred from one cellular compartment to another and to the outside world. These mechanisms are important in neurotransmission, tissue biogenesis, and hormonal secretion.
1995
Douglas A. Melton, for showing how cells and tissues differentiate during vertebrate development through studies on localized mRNAs in eggs and the genes that induce
mesoderm and neural tissue.
1994
Jean Louis Mandel, for his work in human genetics and in particular for his discovery of the mutation of
fragile X. This new type of mutation has now been found at the origin of the diseases.
1993
Stanley B. Prusiner and
Bert Vogelstein, for their distinct and exciting discoveries about the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative and malignant diseases. This award is given as a celebration of the power of modern molecular medicine.
1992
Philippe Ascher and
Henri Korn, for their discoveries of the mechanisms of synaptic transmission. Philippe Ascher furthered knowledge regarding the properties of glutamate receptors which play an important role in trials, and Henri Korn brought to light the elementary liberation of neurotransmitter in quanta form in the
central nervous system of vertebrates.
1991
Marc W. Kirschner, for elucidating key steps in the cell cycle, chromosome movement, cell cycle timing, nucleus breakdown and reformation, and microtubule control of cell polarity and
mitosis.
1991
Harold Weintraub, for elucidating a molecular mechanism by which a single regulatory gene can lead to a program of cell differentiation.
1990
Jean Rosa, for his contributions, which have opened a new road in the control of oxygen transport in the blood and the treatment of the first worldwide genetic plague,
drepanocytosis.
1989
Richard Axel, for his discoveries elucidating gene structure in animal cells.
1988
François Cuzin, for his original contributions in the elucidation of the mechanisms involved in malignant cell transformation, in particular, demonstration of the necessary contribution of two oncogenes.
1987
Alfred G. Gilman and
Martin Rodbell, for their discoveries regarding the proteins and mechanisms that mediate cellular responses to the binding of ligands to cell surface receptors.
1986
André Capron and
Jacques Glowinski, for their fundamental work, which has contributed to the treatment of parasitic and neurological diseases.
1985
Martin Gellert and
Thomas Maniatis, for their seminal contributions to our understanding of the structure and function of DNA, which were essential and fundamental to the development of recombinant DNA techniques.
1984
Maxime Schwartz, for his genetic and biochemical analysis of the maltose system of
E.Coli, which paved the way for the solution of a series of fundamental problems in molecular biology.
1983
Günter Blobel, for his work in uncovering the molecular interactions that control the traffic of newly synthesized proteins in eukaryotic cells, for his incisive experiments, and for the beauty of the findings by which he established these interactions.
1981
Philip Leder, for his series of notable contributions in molecular genetics, which help to explain the means by which genetic information is organized and used to direct the synthesis of specific cell products.
The Richard Lounsbery Award is given to
American and
Frenchscientists, 45 years or younger, in recognition of "extraordinary scientific achievement in
biology and
medicine."[1]
The Award alternates between French and American scientists, and is awarded by the
National Academy of Sciences and the
French Academy of Sciences in alternating years to a scientist from the other country. The award is selected by a seven-member jury representing both the French and the US Academies. The recipient receives a $75,000 prize, funding to visit a lab or research institution in the awarding country, and an invitation to give the Lounsbery Lecture in the awarding country.
2024
Jean-Léon Maître, for outstanding and innovative work in mammalian developmental biology.
2023
Michelle Monje, for her groundbreaking discoveries that neuronal activity promotes adaptive myelination important for cognition, and that neuronal activity drives malignant glioma progression through neuron-to-glioma synapses and paracrine factors. These contributions have elucidated new perspectives in neuroscience and pioneered the field of cancer neuroscience.
2022
Claire Wyart, for her outstanding research on the sensory interface between the central nervous system and cerebrospinal fluid that controls our posture and movements.
2021
Feng Zhang, for his pioneering achievements in the field of genome editing, including the discovery of novel CRISPR systems and their development as molecular tools.
2020
Marie Manceau [
fr], for her work in developmental biology, in particular training and evolution of periodic patterns on the plumage of birds.[3]
2019
Jay Shendure, for his pioneering work and leadership in the second wave of genomics that is transforming genetics and medicine. Through his development of exome sequencing and other novel technologies, he has defined new paradigms for implicating Mendelian disease genes, interpreting genetic variation, and single cell profiling of developmental lineages and gene regulation in whole organisms.
2018
Yohanns Bellaïche [
Wikidata], For his work on the genetic and mechanical regulation that underlies tissue proliferation, homeostasis and repair in physiological and pathological conditions (using a combination of interdisciplinary approaches involving sophisticated imaging, genetics, large-scale molecular approaches, and computational analyses) including the mechanisms of local and long-range mechano-sensing during cytokinesis that remodel the dividing cell adherens junction.
2016
Bruno Klaholz [
Wikidata], for his work in Structural Biology (by X-ray diffraction and cryo-electron microscopy methods) on the regulation of gene expression at both the transcriptional level (structures of the nuclear receptors to retinoic acid and vitamin D) and the protein translation level (initiation and termination complexes, and the structure of the human ribosome).
2015
Hopi Hoekstra, for her work probing the molecular basis of how adaptation to novel
selective pressures establishes and sustains diversity during
evolution.
2013
Karl Deisseroth, for pioneering the technology called
optogenetics in which insertion of a single
bacterial protein into a
neuron allows exquisite control of the neuron with light.
2012
Olivier Pourquié [
Wikidata], for his work in embryonic patterning in
vertebrates and particularly in the genetic and developmental mechanisms that control segmentation.
2011
Bonnie L. Bassler, for her pioneering discoveries of the universal use of chemical communication among bacteria and the elucidation of structural and regulatory mechanisms controlling bacterial assemblies.
2010
Gérard Karsenty, for his work on the molecular mechanisms that underlie the formation and the remodeling of bone.
2009
Cornelia I. Bargmann, for her extraordinarily inventive and successful use of molecular and classical genetics to probe the individual nerve cell basis of behavior in
C. elegans.
2008
Jean-Laurent Casanova [
fr;
de], for his contributions to the understanding the genetic basis of the predisposition to viral and bacterial diseases of childhood, which have important clinical implications for the diagnostic and management of infectious diseases.
2007
Xiaodong Wang, for his pioneering biochemical studies on
apoptosis, which have elucidated a molecular pathway leading into and out of the
mitochondrion and to the
nucleus.
2006
Catherine Dulac, for her major contributions in the perception and behavioral translation of
pheromones in mammals.
2005
John Kuriyan, for his critical role in revealing the structural mechanisms underlying processivity in
DNA replication and the regulation of
tyrosine kinases and their interacting target proteins.
2004
Brigitte Kieffer, for her pioneering work on the molecular neurobiology of opioid-controlled behaviors, the results of which have very important implications for the treatment of pain, drug abuse, and emotional disorders.
2002
Denis Le Bihan, for his work on the invention and development of nuclear
magnetic resonance imaging of brain diffusion and perfusion. The method he developed permits in vivo mapping of nerve fiber bundles and has multiple applications in both medical pathology and cognitive science fields.
2001
Elaine Fuchs, for her fundamental insights into structure and function of
cytoskeletal proteins and the relation of these proteins to human genetic diseases.
2000
Miroslav Radman, for his contribution to the discovery of the molecular mechanisms implicated in the replication and repair of DNA, in particular, the discovery of a key enzyme of the DNA repair mechanism.
1999
Elliot M. Meyerowitz, for his pioneering contributions to the molecular genetics of plant architecture, which have practical implications for agriculture.
1998
Pascale Cossart, for her fundamental discoveries in microbiology dealing with mechanisms of bacterial entry and intracellular host motility.
1997
James E. Rothman, for his dissection of the biochemical mechanisms by which proteins are transferred from one cellular compartment to another and to the outside world. These mechanisms are important in neurotransmission, tissue biogenesis, and hormonal secretion.
1995
Douglas A. Melton, for showing how cells and tissues differentiate during vertebrate development through studies on localized mRNAs in eggs and the genes that induce
mesoderm and neural tissue.
1994
Jean Louis Mandel, for his work in human genetics and in particular for his discovery of the mutation of
fragile X. This new type of mutation has now been found at the origin of the diseases.
1993
Stanley B. Prusiner and
Bert Vogelstein, for their distinct and exciting discoveries about the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative and malignant diseases. This award is given as a celebration of the power of modern molecular medicine.
1992
Philippe Ascher and
Henri Korn, for their discoveries of the mechanisms of synaptic transmission. Philippe Ascher furthered knowledge regarding the properties of glutamate receptors which play an important role in trials, and Henri Korn brought to light the elementary liberation of neurotransmitter in quanta form in the
central nervous system of vertebrates.
1991
Marc W. Kirschner, for elucidating key steps in the cell cycle, chromosome movement, cell cycle timing, nucleus breakdown and reformation, and microtubule control of cell polarity and
mitosis.
1991
Harold Weintraub, for elucidating a molecular mechanism by which a single regulatory gene can lead to a program of cell differentiation.
1990
Jean Rosa, for his contributions, which have opened a new road in the control of oxygen transport in the blood and the treatment of the first worldwide genetic plague,
drepanocytosis.
1989
Richard Axel, for his discoveries elucidating gene structure in animal cells.
1988
François Cuzin, for his original contributions in the elucidation of the mechanisms involved in malignant cell transformation, in particular, demonstration of the necessary contribution of two oncogenes.
1987
Alfred G. Gilman and
Martin Rodbell, for their discoveries regarding the proteins and mechanisms that mediate cellular responses to the binding of ligands to cell surface receptors.
1986
André Capron and
Jacques Glowinski, for their fundamental work, which has contributed to the treatment of parasitic and neurological diseases.
1985
Martin Gellert and
Thomas Maniatis, for their seminal contributions to our understanding of the structure and function of DNA, which were essential and fundamental to the development of recombinant DNA techniques.
1984
Maxime Schwartz, for his genetic and biochemical analysis of the maltose system of
E.Coli, which paved the way for the solution of a series of fundamental problems in molecular biology.
1983
Günter Blobel, for his work in uncovering the molecular interactions that control the traffic of newly synthesized proteins in eukaryotic cells, for his incisive experiments, and for the beauty of the findings by which he established these interactions.
1981
Philip Leder, for his series of notable contributions in molecular genetics, which help to explain the means by which genetic information is organized and used to direct the synthesis of specific cell products.