Two Women Scientists to Share the Japan Prize for Their Work on Genetics

Drs. Charpentier and Doudna

Jennifer Doudna, the Li Ka Shing Professor of Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology at the University of California, Berkeley, and Emmanuelle Charpentier, the Alexander von Humboldt Professor and director at the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology in Berlin, are sharing the Japan Prize from the Japan Prize Foundation for their work developing gene-editing technology that has led to new therapies for cancer patients and those suffering from heredity diseases.

At the award ceremony in Tokyo on April 19, both women will receive a gold medal and 50 million Japanese yen, equal to about $420,000. Previously, the two women have shared the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences, the Gruber Foundation International Prize in Genetics, the Princess of Asturias Award for Technical and Scientific Research, and the L’Oreal Unesco for Women in Science Award.

Dr. Doudna is a graduate of Pomona College in Claremont, California. She holds a Ph.D. from Harvard University.

Dr. Charpentier studied biochemistry and microbiology at the University Pierre and Marie Curie in Paris, France,  and obtained a Ph.D. in microbiology at the Pasteur Institute, also in Paris.