Professor Kazutoshi Mori receives Lasker Award (19 September 2014)

Published on

2014/09/26

The Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation held this year's award ceremony in New York City, and presented its Basic Medical Research Award to Professors Kazutoshi Mori, of Kyoto University's Graduate School of Science, and Peter Walter, of the University of California, San Francisco.

Professors Mori and Walter shared the award for their "discoveries concerning the unfolded protein response (UPR) -- an intracellular quality-control system that detects harmful misfolded proteins in the endoplasmic reticulum and signals the nucleus to carry out corrective measures."

In light of such inner workings, UPR is believed to have significant implications for not only basic research in cell biology but also translational medicine, such as finding cures for diabetes and Parkinson's disease.

The Lasker Award is often considered as the highest American honor in medicine. Since its inception in 1945, a staggering 74 out of 149 awardees in the basic medicine research category have also received the Nobel Prize.

Japan now has seven Lasker laureates, five of whom are Kyoto University alumni and/or faculty members: Professors Mori, Shinya Yamanaka (awarded in 2009), Yoshio Masui (1998), Yasutomi Nishizuka (1989), and Susumu Tonegawa (1987).

In recognition of their UPR discoveries, Professors Mori and Walter shared the Shaw Prize in Life Science and Medicine (2014) and the Canada Gairdner International Award (2009), both awards that were also conferred upon Nobel laureate Professor Yamanaka, director of Kyoto University's Center for iPS Cell Research and Application.

"Looking back, I can point to many happy meetings that changed the directions of my career. In particular, three meetings come to mind," said Professor Mori in his acceptance remark, extending his heartfelt appreciation to all who gave him support and inspiration over the course of his 25-year research on UPR.

"I decided to go to the United States, where I had my first happy meeting: in 1989, at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, I experienced the discipline of molecular biology under the mentorship of Mary-Jane Gething and Joe Sambrook," said Mori, who also touched upon the initial encounter he had with molecular biology in his freshman year at Kyoto University, as well as the long and winding road he took afterwards. "There in Dallas, Texas, I was introduced to UPR -- my second happy meeting."

"If I had stayed in the United States after my time in Texas, I would probably have employed a complicated American-style screening approach that would never have allowed me to keep up with a major player like Peter Walter," continued Mori, highlighting the guidance he received from Professor Takashi Yura, Professor Emeritus of Kyoto University and then-Director of the Kyoto-based Heat Shock Protein (HSP) Research Institute. "But the development of my simple one-hybrid screening, was my third happy meeting -- to me, it was the Japanese version of the American Dream. Thank you again for honoring me with the Lasker Award."