Pharmacia Biotech & Science Prize for Young Scientists

1995 Prize Winners

Pharmacia and Science are pleased to announce the 1995 grand prize winner of the Pharmacia Biotech & Science Prize for Young Scientists. The winner of the 1995 grand prize in molecular biology was chosen from among the first- and second-prize winners from three geographical areas--North America, Europe, and the rest of the world. The grand prize has been awarded to the winner of the first prize for North America, Michael O. Hengartner, for his essay on programmed cell death in the worm Caenorhabditis elegans. This essay describes his doctoral research in the Department of Biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

M. O. Hengartner

Dr. Hengartner was born in St.-Gallen, Switzerland, but grew up in Paris, France; Bloomington, Indiana; and more recently Québec City, Canada. After an initial foray into physics, he turned to biochemistry and started his research career in the laboratory of Guy Poirier at Laval University investigating polyADP ribosylation. His Ph.D. was awarded in 1994 by MIT for research performed in the laboratory of Robert Horvitz. He subsequently moved to the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory as an independent staff member, where he has a laboratory in the space previously occupied by Barbara McClintock. His present research continues his work on the function of ced-9 in C. elegans and its upstream regulators and downstream targets.

First- and Second-Prize Winners

Lauri A. Aaltonen

First-Prize Winner in Europe: Lauri A. Aaltonen, for his essay "Molecular Genetic Background of Hereditary Nonpolyposis Colorectal Cancer," which is based on work performed in the Department of Medical Genetics, Haartman Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland, for his Ph.D. He received his M.D. from the University of Helsinki and continues his work on colon cancer genetics in the Haartman Institute.

Fiona Topfer

First-Prize Winner Outside of Europe and North America: Fiona Topfer, presently investigating autoimmune disease in the Laboratory of Immunology, National Institute of Arthritis and Infectious Diseases, the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, for her essay "Tolerance and Immunity of La and Ro." She obtained her B.S. from the Australian National University and her Ph.D. from the Flinders University of South Australia in the laboratories of James McCluskey and Tom Gordon, where she studied autoimmunity in mice.

Arnim Pause

Second-Prize Winner in North America: Arnim Pause, for his essay "Functional Analysis of the Mammalian Cap-Binding Protein Complex eIF-4F." The essay describes his doctoral research in the Department of Biochemistry at McGill University in the laboratory of Nahum Sonenberg on the mechanisms of translation. Dr. Pause received his B.S. and M.S. degrees from the University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany, and is now in the Cell Biology and Metabolism Branch, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, where he studies the von Hippel-Lindau tumor suppressor protein.

To Advertise   |   Find Products