Huda Y. Zoghbi, director of the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children’s Hospital and a professor of molecular and human genetics at the Baylor University College of Medicine in Houston, has been selected to share the Shaw Prize in Life Science and Medicine from the Shaw Prize Foundation in Hong Kong. The prize recognizes individuals who have achieved a significant breakthrough in academic and scientific research and whose work has resulted in a positive and profound impact on mankind.
Dr. Zoghbi will share the $1.2 million Shaw Prize with Adrian Bird, the Buchanan Professor of Genetics at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. The scholars are being honored for their work on the genetics of Rett Syndrome, a form of autism more common in girls.
A native of Lebanon, Dr. Zoghbi earned a bachelor’s degree at the American University of Beirut and received her medical training at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee. She joined the faculty at the Baylor College of Medicine in 1988. Dr. Zoghbi also serves as a member of the board of trustees of Rice University in Houston.