| | 1 | Name: | Dr. Richard Axel | | | Institution: | Howard Hughes Medical Institute; Columbia University | | | Year Elected: | 2003 | | | Class: | 2. Biological Sciences | | | Subdivision: | 208. Plant Sciences | | | Residency: | Resident | | | Living? : |
Living
| | | Birth Date: | 1946 | | | | | | |
Richard Axel is University Professor at Columbia University and an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. He has pioneered the application of the techniques of molecular genetics to the analysis of cell function eukaryotic organisms. Toward that goal, he first developed techniques for integrating virtually any gene into any mammalian cell in such a way that the genes are stably integrated within the chromosome of the recipient cell, function normally, and are appropriately regulated. The gene transfer techniques developed by Dr. Axel have revolutionized molecular structure and function. Dr. Axel has now gone on to apply the power of molecular genetics to the study of cellular function in the nervous system. This work led to the cloning by Drs. Axel and Buck of the olfactory receptors, and to a mapping of the distribution of these receptors, first on the olfactory epithelium and then on the olfactory bulb. Dr. Axel next extended this approach to a second olfactory system, the vomeronasal organ, and found a second novel family of genes which encode the presumed receptors for pheromones. Finally he is exploring the behavioral function of these receptors in mice and flies. This brilliant series of studies has revolutionized the study of the sense of smell. In 2009 he won the Tower of Hope Excellence in Science Award from the Israel Cancer Research Fund. | |
| 2 | Name: | Dr. Gerald D. Fischbach | | | Institution: | Columbia University | | | Year Elected: | 2003 | | | Class: | 2. Biological Sciences | | | Subdivision: | 208. Plant Sciences | | | Residency: | Resident | | | Living? : |
Living
| | | Birth Date: | 1938 | | | | | | |
Gerald Fischbach received an M.D. at Cornell University Medical School in
1965. Dr. Fischbach was Edison Professor of Neurobiology at the Washington
University School of Medicine from 1981-90 and served as chief of the
Neurobiology Department of Massachusetts General Hospital and Nathan Pusey
Professor of Neurobiology at Harvard Medical School from 1990-98. In 1998 he
was appointed Director of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders
and Stroke at the National Institutes of Health. He joined the faculty of
Columbia University in 2001 and served as Executive Vice President for Health
and Biomedical Sciences, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Harold and
Margaret Hatch Professor of the University before assuming his current role
as John E. Borne Professor of Medical and Surgical Research. In 2006 he
joined the Simons Foundation as their Scientific Director. Gerald Fischbach
pioneered the field of synapse formation with the dramatic discovery that
motor neurons form functional synapses with muscle cells in dissociated cell
culture. This brilliant advance revolutionized the study of neuronal
development in general, and synapse formation in particular, permitting Dr.
Fischbach to solve many key problems about the synaptic organization of CNS
neurons. Dr. Fischbach showed that motor nerves induce Adh receptor
expression at sites of neurotransmitter release, through the release of a
diffusible factor, cloned the gene encoding this factor, and identified it as
Neuregulin. This discovery represented a landmark in the neurosciences: the
delineation of a molecule that directs synapse organization. Dr. Fischbach's
studies have transformed the study of synapse formation from a purely
physiological field to one that is now in the mainstream of cell and
molecular biology. His visionary use of neuronal cell culture has served as a
prototype for studies of how synapses form between CNS neurons, and how
synaptic plasticity is regulated. Dr. Fischbach received the Foundation Ipsen
Neuronal Plasticity Prize in 1998, the Nathan Davis Award in 2000, and the
Parkinson's Disease Foundation Honor for Contributions in 2003. He is a
member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts &
Sciences, and the Society of Neuroscience, where he served as president from
1983-84. He was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society in
2003.
Web Link 1: simonsfoundation.org | |
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