FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 8, 2003
Contact: Stacy Brooks
American Physiological Society
301-634-7253
sbrooks@the-aps.org
APS Member Wins 2003 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Bethesda, Md. -
APS member Peter Agre, M.D. has won the 2003 Nobel Prize in Chemistry of the
Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for isolating the membrane protein that
acts as the water channel in cells. Agre shares the Nobel Prize in
Chemistry with Roderick MacKinnon, M.D. for his work on structural and
mechanistic studies of ion channels.
In 1988, Peter Agre
succeeded in isolating a membrane protein that, a year or so later, he
realized must be the long-sought-after water channel. This decisive
discovery opened the door to a whole series of biochemical, physiological
and genetic studies of water channels in bacteria, plants and mammals.
Agre has been an active
participant in the Society’s meetings since his selection as the inaugural
Carl W. Gottschalk Distinguished Lecturer of the APS Renal Section in 1994.
In 2004, Agre will be the Hugh Davson Distinguished Lecturer of the APS Cell
& Molecular Physiology Section. His lecture, entitled, “Aquaporin Water
Channels at the Convergence of Physiology and Medicine" is scheduled for
presentation on Monday, April 19, 2004, at the Experimental Biology meeting
in Washington, D.C.
Agre is Professor in the
Department of Biological Chemistry at Johns Hopkins University School of
Medicine in Baltimore, MD. He has been an APS member since 1998 and has
been active in several of the Society’s disciplinary sections including Renal
and Cell and Molecular Physiology.
Agre earned his bachelor's degree in
chemistry from Augsburg College, Minneapolis in 1970. He received his
medical degree from Johns Hopkins University in 1974. In 1981, after
post-graduate medical training and a fellowship at the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill, Agre returned to Johns Hopkins, where he progressed
through the ranks of the departments of medicine and cell biology. In 1993,
he became a professor in the department of biological chemistry, a position
he still holds.
For more information on
Agre and his Nobel winning research, go to
http://www.nobel.se/chemistry/laureates/2003/press.html
http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/press/2003/October/031008A.htm
The American Physiological
Society is a professional scientific membership organization devoted to
fostering scientific research, education, and the dissemination of
scientific information. Through its journals, meetings and professional
development awards, APS plays an essential role in the advancement of
knowledge toward the understanding of basic biological function in living
organisms. The APS supports a variety of educational activities including
programs and fellowships to encourage the development of young scientists at
the undergraduate and graduate levels, with a particular focus on women and
underrepresented minorities. Founded in 1887, the Society’s membership
includes more than 11,000 professionals in science and medicine.
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