PHOTO BY ALENA SOBOLEVA
Bonnie Bassler, the Squibb Professor in Molecular Biology and chair of the Department of Molecular Biology, was named a 2015 Shaw Laureate in life science and medicine on June 1, 2015. Awarded by the Hong Kong-based Shaw Foundation, the Shaw Prize honors recent breakthroughs by active researchers in the fields of mathematics, astronomy, and life and medical sciences.
Bassler was recognized for her well-known work in quorum sensing, a widespread process that bacteria use for cell-to-cell communication. Understanding quorum sensing “offers innovative ways to interfere with bacterial pathogens or to modulate the microbiome for health applications,” according to the prize citation. Bassler, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, shares the $1 million prize with E. Peter Greenberg, a University of Washington professor of microbiology. The 2015 prizes were awarded during a Sept. 24 ceremony in Hong Kong.
–By Morgan Kelly
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