'Father of the field' honored for gut microbiome research
Matt MillerJeffrey Gordon, MD, of Washington University School of Medicine successful St. Louis, has received the Dr. Paul Janssen Award for Biomedical Research successful designation of his outstanding contributions to the tract of gut microbiome research.
Jeffrey I. Gordon, MD, the Dr. Robert J. Glaser Distinguished University Professor and manager of the Edison Family Center for Genome Sciences & Systems Biology astatine Washington University School of Medicine successful St. Louis, has been named this year’s recipient of the Dr. Paul Janssen Award for Biomedical Research. The grant recognizes Gordon’s groundbreaking studies of the relation of the gut microbiome successful quality wellness and disease.
Given annually by Johnson & Johnson, the prize is awarded to “the astir passionate and originative idiosyncratic oregon radical of scientists successful basal oregon objective research, whose achievements person made oregon person beardown imaginable to marque a measurable interaction connected quality health.” Multiple winners of this grant person gone connected to person a Nobel Prize.
Gordon volition person the grant connected Feb. 9 during an lawsuit that includes a virtual symposium titled: “Therapeutic Potential of the Microbiome: Dr. Paul Janssen Award Symposium.”
The grant honors the bequest of Dr. Paul Janssen, a prolific and transformative pharmaceutical researcher whose enactment led to the find and improvement of much than 80 medicines. Janssen’s discoveries person had a large interaction connected aggregate areas of biomedicine including psychiatry, infectious diseases, gastroenterology and symptom management. His nonrecreational bequest continues successful the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson.
The tract of quality microbiome probe founded by Gordon has experienced explosive growth, whether judged by the fig of publications oregon the fig of microbiome programs created successful universities, pharma, biotech companies and charitable foundations.
“The microbiome offers breathtaking caller opportunities for identifying illness mechanisms, identifying therapeutic targets and discovering caller therapeutic agents,” Gordon said. “Work successful this country crosses accepted disciplinary boundaries and is advancing our knowing of however quality physiology is shaped by our microbial communities and altering our knowing of microbial contributions to noncommunicable diseases.”
Gordon has a long-standing collaboration with Tahmeed Ahmed, MBBS, PhD, enforcement manager of the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research successful Bangladesh (icddr,b) and his radical studying the relation of the gut microbiome successful puerility malnutrition. Together, their enactment has led to the improvement of caller microbiome-directed therapies for combating puerility malnutrition — a long-standing multifaceted, pressing planetary wellness situation worsened by clime change, the COVID-19 pandemic and geopolitical disruptions.
“The gut microbiome reflects, successful truthful galore ways, the varied ways we live, the gradients successful wealthiness and poverty, and entree to resources that presently exist, arsenic good arsenic the wellness disparities that we indispensable acknowledge, code and surmount,” Gordon said. “Seeing the planetary wellness situation of malnutrition embraced by members of our Washington University-icddr,b squad successful ways that exemplify their hopefulness, devotion, courage, creativity, self-sacrifice and sustained committedness to innovation is inspiring and gives maine anticipation for the aboriginal of our children and grandchildren.”
Gordon has served arsenic the mentor to 144 talented doctoral students and postdoctoral researchers who person worked successful the laboratory since it was founded.
“The outstanding unit and students I person been privileged to enactment with person built a fantastic consciousness of assemblage — a shared content that discoveries and innovation are calved from caring, supportive, respectful, trusting collaborative environments, wherever we tin freely stock ideas with 1 different and, astatine the aforesaid time, not beryllium acrophobic to accidental ‘I don’t understand,’ truthful that we tin larn together,” Gordon said.
Follow this link to registry for the virtual Dr. Paul Janssen Award symposium and lecture: Therapeutic Promise of the Microbiome.
English (US)