Joan Steitz, Ph.D., recipient of the 2012 Vanderbilt Prize in Biomedical Science, will deliver her Vanderbilt Prize Lecture on Thursday, May 2.
Her lecture, also part of the Flexner Discovery Lecture Series, is entitled “Noncoding RNAs: with a viral twist.” It will begin at 4 p.m. in 208 Light Hall.
Steitz, Sterling Professor of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry at Yale Medical School, and Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, is internationally known for her pioneering work with ribonucleic acid (RNA) during a time when it was rare to find woman scientists at the bench.
Her early research helped to clarify the structure and function of RNA and the roles its molecules play in health and disease.
The Vanderbilt Prize in Biomedical Science, established in 2006, honors women who have made significant advances in the biological and biomedical sciences and who have contributed positively to the mentorship of other women in science.
Vanderbilt Prize winners receive a $25,000 award and serve as mentors to women who are pursuing graduate studies in the biomedical sciences at the School of Medicine.
This year’s Vanderbilt Prize Student Scholar will be announced during the Discovery Lecture.
For more information about the Vanderbilt Prize, go to https://medschool.vanderbilt.edu/dean/ and click on “Vanderbilt Prize.”
For a complete schedule of the Discovery Lecture series and archived video of previous lectures, go to www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/discoveryseries.
