The 2004 Keio Medical Science Prize Awardee

Roger Y. Tsien

Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Professor, Departments of Pharmacology and Chemistry & Biochemistry, University of California, San Diego

Reason for Selection and his Major Achievement:

Theme: Visualization and control of molecules within living cells

The imaging of specific molecules and their interactions in space and time is essential for understanding the development, physiology, and pathology of living organisms. Dr. Roger Yonchein Tsien has achieved numerous innovative breakthroughs in live imaging using novel techniques. He has developed fluorescent probes that measure intracellular secondary messenger molecules, such as Ca2+ and cAMP, and created light-activated molecules that regulate signal transduction pathways inside living cells. New insights into intracellular signaling via calcium, cyclic nucleotides, nitric oxide, inositol polyphosphates, membrane potential, transport across the nuclear envelope, and gene expression have been gained by researchers all around the world, thanks in part to the molecules developed by Dr. Tsien. These molecules are also becoming increasingly useful in pharmaceutical research involving the use of high-throughput screening in living cells and/or organisms to identify viable drug targets. The impact of Dr. Tsien’s work on our growing understanding of the dynamic aspects of biology has clearly been significant.

Education

1972	Harvard College, A.B. summa cum laude in Chemistry and Physics
1977	University of Cambridge, Ph.D. in Physiology

Academic Positions

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MD group leader, RIKEN Harima Institute

1975-1978	Research assistant to Prof. R.D. Keynes, Physiological Laboratory, Univ. of Cambridge, England
1978-1981	Postdoctoral research with Dr. T.J. Rink, Physiological Laboratory, Cambridge
1981-1985	Assistant Professor, Dept. of Physiology-Anatomy, Univ. of California, Berkeley
1985-1987	Associate Professor, Dept. of Physiology-Anatomy, Univ. of California, Berkeley
1987-1989	Professor, Dept. of Physiology-Anatomy, University of California, Berkeley
1989-	Professor, Depts. of Pharmacology and Chemistry, Univ. of California, San Diego; Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute

(as of September 2004)

Major Awards and Honors

1995	Artois-Baillet-Latour Health Prize, Belgium
1995	Gairdner Foundation International Award, Canada
2002	ACS Award for Creative Invention, American Chemical Society
2002	Heineken Prize for Biochemistry and Biophysics, Royal Netherlands Academy of Sciences
2004	co-recipient of Wolf Prize in Medicine, Israel