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The Shaw Prize was established in 2002 by the Hong Kong philanthropist Sir Run Run Shaw to recognize individuals who have made “outstanding contributions in academic and scientific research”. The prize is awarded annually in three categories, Astronomy, Life Science and Medicine, and Mathematical Sciences, and comes with a monetary award of one million US dollars.

 
 

We are delighted that this year’s recipient in Life Science and Medicine is Peter Walter, professor of biochemistry and biophysics at UC San Francisco and Section Head for Membranes & Sorting in the Cell Biology Faculty of F1000Prime.

 

Professor Walter was awarded the prize jointly with Kazutoshi Mori, professor of biophysics at Kyoto University, for their discovery of the unfolded protein response (UPR) of the endoplasmic reticulum, a system that makes “life and death decisions” for the cell.

The first breakthrough in understanding this pathway came in 1993 with the discovery by Professors Walter and Mori of Ire1, a central signalling molecule that senses the presence of unfolded or incompletely processed proteins from the endoplasmic reticulum production line.

The discovery of this molecule was the first piece of a complex pathway, the elucidation of which was dubbed “one of the most fascinating detective stories of modern biology” by the The Shaw Prize’s Life Science and Medicine Selection Committee.

You can find out more about the announcement at the UC San Francisco website, and a complete description of the Committee’s decision, as well as more information about the UPR, can be found in the Shaw Prize Foundation press release. Our congratulations again to both winners!