Jeremy Nathans Honored at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine Four Doctors Awards
Jeremy Nathans, left, and Theodore DeWeese (photo by Eric Stocklin)
The Johns Hopkins University of School of Medicine celebrated the second annual Four Doctors Awards Ceremony on May 12, honoring Jeremy Nathans, professor of molecular biology and genetics, neuroscience, and ophthalmology, with the inaugural Welch Award for Excellence in Basic Science Research.
Attendees gathered in the West Reading Room of the Welch Medical Library, home to the The Four Doctors, the iconic John Singer Sargent painting that inspired the awards. The recently restored painting depicts four of the founding physicians of the Johns Hopkins Hospital and School of Medicine who had a profound and lasting influence on American medicine: William Henry Welch, William Stewart Halsted, William Osler, and Howard Atwood Kelly.
“Year after year, generation after generation, Hopkins students, faculty, and researchers have ensured the vibrancy of the founding vision articulated and implemented by these four doctors, and it has never faded or diminished, Johns Hopkins University President Ron Daniels said in his remarks. “Rather it has renewed itself time and time again, day after day.”
Named for the first pathologist and founding dean of the School of Medicine, the Welch Award for Excellence in Basic Science Research recognizes exceptional leadership in the scientific community, excellence in research, leadership in education and mentorship, innovation in approaches, and significant contributions to science.
Nathans is an internationally recognized scientist whose landmark discoveries have changed our understanding of how humans see the world. Over the past 38 years, the Nathans Lab has focused on the intersection of human genetics, ophthalmology, retinal cell biology, developmental neuroscience, and evolution. His investigations into the mechanisms that allow humans 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. His lab’s current focus is on vascular biology, with a special emphasis on the blood-retina barrier and the blood-brain barrier.
“Jeremy’s scientific contributions are, without exaggeration, foundational,” said Joseph Sakran, the faculty member who nominated him. Speaking of the award criteria, Sakran added, “Jeremy Nathans doesn’t just meet the bar—he is the bar.”
An active leader in biomedical science who has held numerous leadership positions at Johns Hopkins and other organizations dedicated to advancing biomedical research, Nathans sees fostering the next generation of scientists as central to his legacy. He and his family established two endowed research funds named after distinguished School of Medicine alumni—the Hamilton Smith Award for Innovative Research and the Lee Hood Prize in Biomedical Science—that support the research of early-career faculty in the basic sciences at Johns Hopkins. To support the Hamilton Smith Award’s endowment, Nathans and his family auctioned the 1978 Nobel Prize medal won by his father, Hopkins scientist Daniel Nathans. (The Nobel Prize was shared between Daniel Nathans, Hamilton Smith, and Swiss microbiologist Werner Arber for their discovery of restriction enzymes and their application to molecular genetics.)
So it was fitting that during his remarks, Nathans announced that he would be transferring the $50,000 prize money of the Welch Award to the Lee Hood Prize endowment.
“There is no better way to invest in our collective future than by giving our younger colleagues the intellectual, financial, and psychological support they need to advance their careers and make transformative discoveries,” Nathans said. “And I hope to keep doing that for many years to come.” ( Written by
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