1 | Name: | Dr. Ronald M. Evans | |
Institution: | The Salk Institute | ||
Year Elected: | 2007 | ||
Class: | 2. Biological Sciences | ||
Subdivision: | 202. Cellular and Developmental Biology | ||
Residency: | Resident | ||
Living? : | Living | ||
Birth Date: | 1949 | ||
Ronald Evans is March of Dimes Professor in Molecular & Developmental Neurobiology at the Salk Institute and an Investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. His discovery of the superfamily of nuclear receptors, including the mineralocorticoid, thyroid, retinoic acid (vitamin A), and retinoid X receptors, was a watershed in the field. His discovery of RXR and its heterodimeric partners proved to be the "Rosetta stone" for identifying hormonal ligands of several hitherto-orphan nuclear receptors, with profound implications for normal physiology, disease pathogenesis and drug discovery. Dr. Evans' discoveries in the field of nuclear hormone receptors defined a unitary signaling pathway and a central paradigm for the control of eukaryotic gene expression. His work established a transcriptional basis to physiology and has led to a new generation of drugs for cancer, metabolic disease and the treatment of muscular dystrophies. He has received numerous awards for his efforts, including the Pasarow Award in Cancer Research (1993); the Bristol-Myers Squibb Award in Metabolic Research (2000); the March of Dimes Prize in Developmental Biology (2003); the General Motors Sloan Prize in Cancer Research (2003); the Keio Medical Science Prize, Japan (2003); the Lasker Basic Medical Research Award (2004); the Grande Medaille d'Or of the French Academy of Sciences (2005); the Harvey Prize (2006); the Gairdner International Award (2006); and the Lipman Award of the American Society for Biochemistry & Molecular Biology (2007). |