The Stein and Moore Award, sponsored by The Merck Company Foundation, is named for Nobel Laureates Dr. William Stein and Dr. Stanford Moore. The award venerates their contribution to understanding the connection between chemical structure and catalytic activity of the active center of the rib nuclease molecule. The 2006 award will be jointly present to Dr. Arthur Horwich (Yale School of Medicine/HHMI and The Scripps Research Institute) and Dr. Ulrich Hartl (Max-Planck-Institute f¸r Biochemie) for their groundbreaking work on chaperone-assisted protein folding. This yearís Stein and Moore Award will be conferred at a plenary session on Monday, August 7.

The following awards will be conferred at a plenary award session on Tuesday, August 8:

The Hans Neurath Award, which is supported by the Hans Neurath Foundation, recognizes an individual who has made a recent contribution of unusual merit to basic research in the field of protein science, including but not restricted to the chemistry, design, folding, structure, or biological function of proteins. The 2006 awardee is Dr. Christopher Dobson (University of Cambridge) for research that substantially contributes to the understanding of protein folding and, more recently, protein misfolding, especially amyloidogenesis. Dr. Dobsonís pioneering contributions include a recent demonstration that amyloid fibrils are a generic structure that can be adopted by nearly all proteins.

The Christian B. Anfinsen Award, sponsored by The Aviv Family Foundation, recognizes significant technical achievements in the field of protein science. The 2006 awardee is Dr. John Yates, III (The Scripps Research Institute) for his novel method of using tandem mass spectra of peptides to match sequences in a protein databaseótermed ìshotgun proteomicsî or multi-dimensional protein identification technology (ìMudPITî). Dr. Yatesís pioneering work in bioanalytical chemistry has helped to create the field of proteomics as it is known today, with his methods now used in laboratories worldwide.

The Emil Thomas Kaiser Award, sponsored by The Protein Society , recognizes a recent and highly significant contribution to the application of chemistry to the study of proteins. The 2006 awardee is Dr. Barbara Imperiali (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) for her exceptional ability to make novel amino acids that can be used in solid phase peptide synthesis. Dr. Imperialiís unique ability to develop new tools to study kinase activities (in vitro and in vivo), amyloid formation, and sensors of metalsóas well as her ability to make constrained peptidesóhas provided insight into the mechanism of asparagine-linked glycosylations.

The Irving Sigal Young Investigator Award, sponsored by Merck Research Laboratories, recognizes a significant contribution to the study of proteins by a scientist who is in the early stages of an independent career and, generally, not more than 40 years of age at the time of the award. The 2006 awardee is Dr. Vijay Pande (Stanford University) for his unique approach to employing advances in algorithms that make optimal use of distributed computing, which places his efforts at the cutting edge of simulations. The results have stimulated a re-examination of the meaning of both ensemble and single-molecule measurements, making Dr. Pandeís efforts pioneering contributions to simulation methodology.

The Protein Society acknowledges the 20th Symposium Best Poster Award Winners

Undergraduates:
Meghan MacNeal, University of Richmond
Claudia Rodriguez-Almazan, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico
 
Graduate Students:
Kevin Boulware, University of California, Santa Barbara
Ireena Bagai, University of Arizona
Ben Duckworth, University of Minnesota
Megan Garvey, Adelaide University, Adelaide, Australia
M.E. Konkle, Vanderbilt University
Jonathan Lassila, California Institute of Technology
Steve Otieno, University of Tennessee Health Science Center
LaKenya Williams, Texas A&M University
 

The Protein Society acknowledges the Finn Wold Travel Awardees for 2006

Denis J. DuprÈ, McGill University

Susan Idicula-Thomas, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay
Tetsuya Ishino, Drexel University College of Medicine

Hari B. Kamadurai, The Ohio State University

Mary E. Konkle, Vanderbilt University

Ashwini Mishra, University of Massachusetts Medical School

Ana Serrano, University of Zaragoza

Francesca Speroni, University of Parma

Yaowen Wu, Max-Planck-Institute for Molecular Physiology

Qi Xu, University of Virginia

The Protein Society acknowledges the MARC Travel Awardees for 2006

Paul Adams, Cornell University
Blythe Janowiak, Harvard Medical School
Candace Jones, Meharry Medical College
Aristobulo Loaiza, Purdue University
Shirley Lomeli, UCLA
Geoffrey Lovely, University of California
Tinh Nguyen, Texas A&M University
Stephanie Njuguna, Mills College
Uzoagu Okonkwo, University of Pittsburgh
Lake Paul, Purdue University
Sindia Ramos, University of Puerto Rico
Tarik Smith, Emory University
Robert Walker, Meharry Medical College
Lakenya Williams, Texas A&M University
Milka Zayas, Ponce School of Medicine