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RNAi Pioneer Craig Mello Named Inaugural Winner
The Dr. Paul Janssen Award for Biomedical Research
New Award Honors Dr. Paul Janssen,
One of the 20th Century’s
Most Innovative and Inspiring Pharmaceutical Researchers
Beerse, Belgium - September 12, 2006 - Johnson & Johnson
today announced that Craig C.
Mello, Ph. D., a professor of Molecular Medicine at the University
of Massachusetts Medical
School, Worcester, MA, and an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical
Institute, has been
named the inaugural recipient of The Dr. Paul Janssen Award for Biomedical
Research. Dr.
Mello was selected for his role in the discovery of RNA interference
(RNAi) and the elucidation
of its biological functions. The Award will be presented to Dr. Mello
today at The Dr. Paul
Janssen Biomedical Research Scientific Symposium and Award Program
in Beerse, Belgium,
which also commemorates the 80th anniversary of Dr. Janssen's birth.
The Dr. Paul Janssen Award for Biomedical Research was established
by Johnson & Johnson to
honor Dr. Paul Janssen. The Award recipients are chosen by a preeminent
and independent
selection committee composed of world-leading scientists and clinicians.
Intending to
acknowledge a scientist whose work has the potential to make a significant,
transformational
contribution toward the improvement of human health, the Award includes
a $100,000 prize and
will be given every two years. Dr. Janssen, who was known to his colleagues
as Dr. Paul, was
one of the 20th century's most gifted and passionate scientists. At
the time of his death in 2003,
Dr. Paul, who was the founder of Janssen Pharmaceutica, had contributed
to the discovery and
development of more than 80 medicines that have helped save millions
of lives.
“I am very grateful to receive this Award, which aims to extend
the legacy of Dr. Paul Janssen,
one of the greatest scientific innovators of our time,” said Dr.
Mello. “I am also very thankful to
the Selection Committee for giving me this Award and to be considered
alongside so many great
scientists.”
RNA interference is a biological process where double-stranded RNA
inhibits gene expression in
a highly specific fashion. Since its discovery in 1998, RNA interference
has emerged as a
powerful "gene-silencing" technique used in laboratories around
the world to determine which
genes are important in various diseases and conditions. RNAi also has
promise as the basis of
gene-silencing therapies. The new field of RNAi-based genomics is a
fundamental paradigm
shift for biomedical research and has the potential to start a revolution
in the development of
modern therapeutics.
“Johnson & Johnson is very pleased to award The Dr. Paul Janssen
Award for Biomedical
Research to Dr. Mello,” said William C. Weldon, Chairman, Board
of Directors, and Chief
Executive Officer of Johnson & Johnson. “His work and research
have the potential to help
millions of people, and this epitomizes the passion, leadership and
innovation that defined Dr.
Janssen.”
Among Mello’s other honors, he has received the 2006 Paul Ehrlich
and Ludwig Darmstaedter
Prize; the Dr. Lewis S. Rosenstiel Award for Distinguished Work in
Basic Medical Science; the
Gairdner Foundation International Award; the National Academy of Sciences
Award in
Molecular Biology; the Wiley Prize in Biomedical Sciences; the Warren
Triennial Prize,
Massachusetts General Hospital; and the Massry Prize.
“Now more than ever, scientific innovation comes at a premium,” says
Sir Richard Sykes, a
member of the Award’s international Selection Committee. “Discoveries
such as those by Dr.
Mello have the potential to open a treasure chest of untold medical
innovations that can
ultimately help patients on a worldwide basis.”
About The Selection Committee
The Award’s independent, international Selection Committee included:
- Dr. Arvid Carlsson (Sweden), University of Gothenburg, Sweden, 2000 Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine
- Dr. Jean Marie Lehn (France), professor, Collège de France, 1987 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry
- Dr. Hartmut Michel (Germany), director, department of Molecular Membrane Biology, University of Frankfurt, 1988 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry
- Dr. Edward Scolnick (United States), former president of Merck Research Laboratories, Merck and Company, now director of the Psychiatry Initiative at the Broad Institute, member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Institute of Medicine
- Dr. Solomon Snyder (United States), distinguished service professor of neuroscience, pharmacology and psychiatry at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, 1978 co-winner of the Albert Lasker Award, 2003 winner of the National Medal of Science
- Sir Richard Sykes (United Kingdom), former chief executive
officer of GlaxoWellcome, now Rector of Imperial College, London,
Fellow of the Royal Society, Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society
of Chemistry, and a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences
“Dr. Mello is a very deserving recipient of this auspicious award,” said Dr. Snyder. “The Committee was faced with a very difficult challenge to select the inaugural recipient for this award. We feel that Dr.Mello’s innovative work opens up new pathways to understanding basic biology and will have a true impact on human health.”
For more information about the Award, please go to http://www.pauljanssenaward.com/.
About Johnson & Johnson
Johnson & Johnson is the world's most comprehensive and broadly based manufacturer of health care products, as well as a provider of related services, for the consumer, pharmaceutical, and medical devices and diagnostics markets. The more than 230 Johnson & Johnson operating companies employ approximately 116,000 men and women in 57 countries and sell products throughout the world.
Contact:
Seema Kumar
Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Services, L.L.C.
(908) 218-6460 or seema@prdus.jnj.com
Frederik Wittock
Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Services, L.L.C. (Belgium)
+32 14 60 57 24 or fwittock@prdbe.jnj.com
Ernie Knewitz
Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Services, L.L.C.
(908) 927-2953 or eknewitz@prdus.jnj.com
