Brenda Schulman Receives Louis Jeantet Prize | Max Planck Society
Max Planck researcher is honored for her contributions to understanding the function of the protein ubiquitin
The Louis Jeantet Prize for Medicine 2023 is awarded to Brenda Schulman, Director at the Max Planck Institute (MPI) for Biochemistry in Martinsried near Munich, and Ivan Ðikić, Director of the Department of Biochemistry II at the Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main . The Louis Jeantet Prize is one of the most prestigious awards in biomedical research and is awarded annually to advance European science. Today, January 24, 2023, it was officially announced that this year’s award will go to researchers Brenda Schulman and Ivan Ðikić for their outstanding scientific contributions in the field of ubiquitin research.
“I am incredibly grateful for this award which WILL BE extra special for me as I get to share it with my close friend and colleague Ivan Ðikić. I am our collaborating partner to all members who have written in my lab over the years and – partners and the wonderful community of colleagues in the field of ubiquitin research. I look forward to investing these research funds into new scientific discoveries that we hope will provide opportunities to combat human disease,” says Brenda Schulman.
Ubiquitin is a rather small protein, yet it plays a key role in the health of our cells. Ubiquitin attaches to other proteins in a process called “ubiquitinylation” to ensure that various processes in our cells occur in the correct order. Basically, ubiquitin would ensure that the heavy rafters aren’t erected without a foundation.
Brenda Schulman and Ivan Đikić were able to uncover such individual control processes of ubiquitin and thus make a significant contribution to scientific progress in this area. Schulman’s lab reveals the “how?” and “when?” of the protein ubiquitin. These points are of crucial importance as they could be used as targets for cancer therapies, for example. Đikić’s group indicated how ubiquitin affects processes. He was the pioneer in the idea that ubiquitin not only fulfills its originally discovered role in breaking down proteins, but also sends signals in an amazing number of ways, affecting numerous processes in the body. By awarding the Louis Jeantet Prize for Medicine 2023, the foundation recognizes the contributions of the two scientists to our current understanding of the mechanisms of ubiquitinylation, the functions of ubiquitin, and the possibilities of using these processes in a targeted manner to combat diseases.
Denis Duboule, President of the Board of Trustees of the Louis Jeantet Foundation, highlights: “This year, the Louis Jeantet Medicine Prize will be jointly awarded to Brenda Schulman and Ivan Ðikić for their pioneering work on ubiquitination. The two award winners have made an enormous contribution to scientific progress in this area, which harbors great clinical potential for a large number of serious diseases, thereby bridging the gap between basic researchers and clinicians. The Louis Jeantet Foundation is very much looking forward to celebrating Brenda Schulman and Ivan Ðikić at the awards ceremony, which will take place in Geneva in April 2023.”
The Louis Jeantet Prize for Medicine is one of the most prestigious awards for biomedical research. Since 1986, the Louis Jeantet Foundation has awarded the prize annually to outstanding scientists who are still actively involved in research. The prize should not only serve as recognition, but also as an incentive for future innovative work. The prize is endowed with a total of 500,000 Swiss francs (approx. 505,297.93 euros). The awards ceremony will take place on Wednesday, April 26, 2023 in Geneva, Switzerland.
About Brenda Schulman
Schulman admitted biology to Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA. After receiving her doctorate in 1996 from MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA, she worked as a postdoc at Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, Boston, MA, USA and at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA. In 2001, Schulman moved to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, TN, USA, where he was a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator from 2005 to 2017. Brenda Schulman has headed the Molecular Machines and Signaling Department at the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry in Martinsried near Munich since 2016. Since October 2018 she has also been an honorary professor at the Technical University of Munich.
Schulman has received numerous awards, including the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize and the Ernst Jung Prize for Medicine. She is an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Sciences in the USA, the German Academy of Sciences (Leopoldina) and the European Organization for Molecular Biology.