PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

10-Nov-2014

Contact: Jim Fessenden james.fessenden@umassmed.edu 508-856-2000 University of Massachusetts Medical School @UMassMedNow

WORCESTER, MA - Victor R. Ambros, PhD, professor of molecular medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, has been awarded a 2015 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences for his co-discovery of a new world of genetic regulation by microRNAs, a class of tiny RNA molecules that inhibit translation or destabilize complementary mRNA targets. Honored with his long-time collaborator Gary Ruvkun, PhD, professor of genetics at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Dr. Ambros, the Silverman Chair in Natural Sciences and co-director of the RNA Therapeutics Institute, was one of six biomedical researchers honored, each of whom received a $3 million prize. In total, the Breakthrough Prizes awarded more than $36 million this year.

Established in 2013, the Breakthrough Prizes are bestowed in the fields of life sciences, physics and mathematics to celebrate scientists and generate excitement about the pursuit of science as a career. Founded by technology and Internet entrepreneurs Sergey Brin and Anne Wojcicki, Jack Ma and Cathy Zhang, Yuri and Julia Milner, and Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan, the prizes are funded by grants from the Brin Wojcicki Foundation; Mark Zuckerberg's fund at the Silicon Valley Community Foundation; the Jack Ma Foundation; and the Milner Foundation. Laureates of all prizes are chosen by selection committees which comprise prior recipients of the prizes.

"This year's life sciences laureates have made some spectacular discoveries, from a new kind of gene to a Parkinson's treatment that has improved the lives of many," said Wojcicki, co-founder and chief executive officer of the personal genomics company 23andMe. "It's energizing to be in the company of such brilliant and fertile minds."

The awards were presented at an exclusive gala co-hosted by Breakthrough Prize co-founders and Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter at NASA's Ames Research Center. Hollywood personality Seth MacFarlane was master of ceremonies for the 2nd Annual Breakthrough Prize Ceremony, which also featured actors Kate Beckinsale, Benedict Cumberbatch, Cameron Diaz, Jon Hamm and Eddie Redmayne as presenters.

"The world faces many fundamental challenges today, and there are many amazing scientists, researchers and engineers helping us solve them," said Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook. "This year's Breakthrough Prize winners have made discoveries that will help cure disease and move the world forward. They deserve to be recognized as heroes."

The ceremony was produced and directed by Emmy Award-winning Don Mischer Productions and will be simulcast in the United States on Discovery Channel and Science Channel on Nov. 15 at 6 p.m. and televised globally the weekend of Nov. 22 on BBC World News.

Regulation by microRNA

Original post:

Victor Ambros receives 2015 Breakthrough Prize for co-discovery of microRNAs