Professor Jeremy Nathans Named Inaugural Recipient of the Welch Award for Excellence in Basic Science Research

To the school of medicine community

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to announce that Jeremy Nathans, M.D., Ph.D., professor of molecular biology and genetics, neuroscience and ophthalmology, is the inaugural recipient of the Welch Award for Excellence in Basic Science Research, the second award in the Four Doctors Awards series.

Dr. Nathans embodies William Welch’s legacy of excellence in medical research, innovation, education and leadership. He is responsible for landmark discoveries that have changed our understanding of how humans see the world. Dr. Nathans’ investigations into the mechanisms that allow us to see colors led him to identify the genes that code for color-vision receptors in the light-sensing cones of the retina — a breakthrough that led to the discovery that variations in these genes cause color blindness.

Dr. Nathans has held numerous leadership positions at Johns Hopkins as well as organizations dedicated to the advancement of biomedical science. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Medicine. Dr. Nathans serves on multiple advisory and grant review boards in academia and in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry. Over the past four decades, he has trained more than 20 doctoral students and more than 20 postdoctoral fellows, nearly all of whom have gone on to distinguished careers in academia, industry or government. Recognizing the need to support early-career scientists, Dr. Nathans established two endowed research funds supporting junior faculty in the basic sciences.

We will recognize Dr. Nathans at the Four Doctors Award Ceremony on Tuesday, May 12, from 4:30–5:30 p.m. in the Welch Medical Library West Reading Room. We invite you to join us in person or online via livestream. Register to attend in person at this link.

The Four Doctors Awards are inspired by John Singer Sargent’s masterful The Four Doctors painting and the enduring legacies of Drs. William Henry Welch, William Stewart Halsted, William Osler and Howard Atwood Kelly. The series consists of four distinct awards: the Osler Award for Clinical Excellence, the Welch Award for Excellence in Basic Science Research, the Halsted Award for Excellence in Translational Research, and the Kelly Award for Excellence in Medical Education. The award series is made possible by the generosity of Charles Homcy, an alumnus of the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences (A.B. ’70, human biology) and the school of medicine (M.D. ’73). Dr. Homcy’s establishment of this award series honors the Four Doctors and ensures that future generations will remain aware of their legacy.

Please join us in congratulating Dr. Nathans. We hope to see you at the awards ceremony.

Sincerely,

Theodore L. DeWeese, M.D.
The Frances Watt Baker, M.D., and Lenox D. Baker Jr., M.D.
Dean of the Medical Faculty
CEO, Johns Hopkins Medicine

Maria Oliva-Hemker, M.D.
Vice Dean for Faculty
Mary Wallace Stanton Professor for Faculty Affairs
Stermer Family Professor of Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease