Professor Jennifer Doudna to Share the $1 Million Kavli Prize in Nanoscience

Jennifer Doudna, professor of chemistry and professor of molecular and cell biology at the University of California, Berkeley, will share the $1 million Kavli Prize in Nanoscience awarded by the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters and the Kavli Foundation. She will share the prize with Emmanuelle Charpentier of the Max Planck Society in Germany, and Virginijus Siksnys of the Institute of Applied Enzymology in Vlinius, Lithuania. The scientists will be honored in a ceremony in Oslo, Norway, in September.

Professor Doudna is being honored for her groundbreaking research in collaboration with Professor Charpentier harnessing an ancient mechanism of bacterial immunity into a powerful and general technology for editing genomes, with wide-ranging implications across biology and medicine.

Ole M. Sejersted, president of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, stated that “these laureates represent truly pioneering science, the kind of science which will benefit humanity in a profound way. They will inspire both current and future generations to continue searching for answers to some of the most difficult questions of our time. Through their hard work, dedication and innovation, they have strengthened our understanding of existence.”

Dr. Doudna joined the faculty at the University of California Berkeley in 2002. Earlier, she had taught at Yale University. Professor Doudna is a graduate of Pomona College in Claremont, California. She holds a Ph.D. in biological chemistry and molecular pharmacology from Harvard Medical School.