Caltech’s Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz Honored by the Zurich-Based NOMIS Foundation

Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz, Bren Professor of Biology and Biological Engineering at the California Institute of Technology and affiliated faculty member with the Tianqiao and Chrissy Chen Institute for Neuroscience at the university, has been awarded the 2022 Distinguished Scientist and Scholar Award from the NOMIS Foundation.

The NOMIS Foundation is based in Zurich, Switzerland. Its stated mission is to “create a spark in the world of science by enabling and supporting pioneering research in the natural sciences, social sciences. and the humanities that benefits humankind and our planet.” Established in 2016, the Distinguished Scientist and Scholar Award is presented to “pioneering scientists and scholars who, through their innovative, groundbreaking research, have made a significant contribution to their respective fields and who inspire the world around them.”

Professor Zernicka-Goetz’s research addresses fundamental questions about how life begins, such as: What drives a fertilized egg to divide and grow until it becomes 40 trillion cells, and how do these cells know how to make a person?

Dr. Zernicka-Goetz joined the Caltech faculty in 2019. Prior to Caltech, she was a professor of mammalian development and stem cell biology at the University of Cambridge in England.