NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH Office of the Director, NIH FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Monday, October 9, 2000 Contact: Marc Stern, NIH News Office NIH Grantees Awarded Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for Brain Research Long-time National Institutes of Health grantees Dr. Eric R. Kandel and Dr. Paul Greengard were awarded the 2000 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their discoveries in signal transduction in the nervous system. Together their work has improved treatments for Parkinson's Disease, schizophrenia, depression and holds promise for the improvement of memory in various types of dementia. The Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden announced the prizes this morning. Dr. Kandel of the Center for Neurobiology and Behavior at Columbia University in New York, and Dr. Greengard of the Laboratory of Molecular and Cellular Science at Rockefeller University in New York received the award jointly with Dr. Arvid Carlsson of the University of Gothenburg. Dr. Ruth Kirschstein, Principal Deputy Director of the National Institutes of Health, congratulated the scientists and said, "This work is very important in understanding how the more than hundred billion nerve cells in the brain communicate. I am proud that NIH has provided long-term and consistent support, to these fine scientists over decades. I would add that because of the breadth and depth of his research, Dr. Eric Kandel was a valued advisor to the NIH Director from 1995 through 1999." The National Institute of Mental Health has provided over thirty years of research support to Drs. Kandel and Greengard. Support has also been provided by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institute on Aging, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. | |
|