RNA Society announces awards

Four members of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology have received awards from the RNA Society this year. Charles Bou–Nader, Wendy Gilbert, Nicholas Ingolia and Amanda Hargrove are among those who will be honored at the 2023 RNA Society annual meeting in Singapore in June.

Charles Bou–Nader

Bou–Nader, a postdoctoral fellow at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases at the National Institutes of Health, received the Scaringe Young Scientist Award, which recognizes outstanding research achievements in RNA biology by a junior member. Bou–Nader uses structural biology and biochemistry to study the functions of RNAs and RNPs with Jinwei Zhang, a senior investigator at the NIDDK. The team recently demonstrated how HIV co-opts host tRNAs to control virion biogenesis and published an article on the structural basis of R-loop recognition by the S9.6

Wendy Gilbert

Gilbert, an associate professor of molecular biophysics and biochemistry at Yale University School of medicine, was given the Award for Excellence in Inclusive Leadership, which recognizes a scientist who fosters inclusivity and promotes the training and professional development of underrepresented scientists. Her research focuses on regulatory elements in messenger RNA that control gene expression. This award is her second from the RNA Society; in 2017, she received the Early Career Award.

Nicholas Ingolia

Ingolia, an associate professor of molecular and cell biology at the University of California, Berkeley, received the Mid-Career Research Award, which highlights exceptional RNA researchers during their first 15 years as independent scientists. He studies translational control of gene expression during the cellular stress response using sequencing techniques. The group recently published a global survey of regulatory proteins affecting mRNA stability and translation.

Amanda Hargrove

Hargrove, an associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry at Duke University, was awarded the Elisa Izaurralde Award for Innovation in Research, Teaching and Service, which highlights a mid-career researcher who excels in these areas. Her lab researches the basic biology of long noncoding RNAs, their role in diseases such as cancer, and how they can be targeted with small molecules. Hargrove and her team recently published an article on using machine learning and computation to design small molecules with RNA targets.