Biochemistry alum Lynne Maquat has been awarded the 2021 Wolf Prize in Medicine. The international award is given to outstanding scientists from around the world for achievements that benefit mankind.
Maquat was a graduate student in the lab of now emeritus professor William Reznikoff, and conducted a postoc in the McArdle Laboratory for Cancer under now emeritus professor Jeffrey Ross. She is the founding director of the Center for RNA Biology at the University of Rochester.
“Lynne Maquat’s recent award of the Wolf Prize in Medicine is a great honor for her,” said Reznikoff, “but perhaps not surprising to the Biochemistry Department members who knew her during her graduate workdays of the late 1970s.”
Maquat’s research is in the field of RNA biology. She was awarded the Wolf Prize for discovering a mechanism that destroys mutant mRNA in cells, known as nonsense mediated mRNA decay (NMD).
“Lynne was a wonderful lab citizen,” said Reznikoff, “who, in addition, had the focused drive and experimental talents to make great discoveries. She had a special ability to recognize unexpected results as being gateways to new discoveries and understanding.”
Read more from the University of Rochester here.
Read more from the Wolf Foundation here.
Our story on Lynne from 2018 here.