U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH NIH News
NIH Office of the Director (OD) <http://www.nih.gov/icd/od/>
For Immediate Release: Wednesday, October 6, 2010
CONTACT: NIH News Media Branch, NIH OCPL, 301-496-5787, <e-mail:nihnmb@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
NIH GRANTEE WINS 2010 NOBEL PRIZE IN CHEMISTRY
The 2010 Nobel Prize in chemistry has been awarded to National Institutes of Health (NIH) grantee Ei-ichi Negishi, Ph.D., of Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana. Dr. Negishi shares the award with Richard F. Heck, Ph.D., of the University of Delaware in Newark, Delaware and Akira Suzuki, Ph.D., of Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan. The three researchers are honored for developing complementary methods to find more efficient ways of linking carbon atoms together to build complex molecules.
"The methodology developed by these stellar scientists has broad implications for the medical, electronic, and agricultural fields," said NIH Director Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D. "It has already allowed chemists to synthesize compounds to fight the herpes virus, HIV, and colon cancer."
Dr. Negishi has received more than $6.5 million in support from the NIH's National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) since 1979.
"Carbon-carbon bonds are like the frame of a house -- you have to get them right for the structure to be functional and useful," said NIGMS Director Jeremy M. Berg, Ph.D. "By developing more precise and efficient methods for making these bonds, the scientists selected for the 2010 Nobel Prize in chemistry have created a remarkably powerful tool for synthesizing a wide range of useful chemicals."
The Office of the Director, the central office at NIH, is responsible for setting policy for NIH, which includes 27 Institutes and Centers. This involves planning, managing, and coordinating the programs and activities of all NIH components. The Office of the Director also includes program offices which are responsible for stimulating specific areas of research throughout NIH. Additional information is available at <http://www.nih.gov/icd/od/>.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) -- The Nation's Medical Research Agency -- includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is the primary federal agency for conducting and supporting basic, clinical and translational medical research, and it investigates the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit <www.nih.gov>.
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