Elucidating how chemotherapy induces neurotoxicity

As a child, Andre Nussenzweig did everything he could to avoid going into science. Both his parents were scientists, and so were many of his relatives. He really wanted to do something different, and his favorite activity was basketball.

“I’m still obsessed with the sports,” Nussenzweig said. “But then I realized that becoming a professional basketball player wasn’t in the cards, so I should find something else.”

Andre Nussenzweig

Nussenzweig explored philosophy, business and the social sciences before deciding to major in physics in college. He trained as a physicist in his Ph.D. program at Yale, and then in his first postdoctoral fellowship in Paris.

“Science is more me,” he said. “But it still has a competitive edge, so in a way there are some interesting parallels with sports.”

Nussenzweig said he found it challenging to make advances in physics because so much was already known. In biology, however, scientists’ predictions often don’t come true. And while unexpected results are sometimes disappointing, they make room for new discoveries.

“Physics didn’t have the same excitement that I saw in biology,” he said.

At first, Nussenzweig considered switching to structural biology. Many physicists who wanted to transition into biology chose this path, he said, because there are some overlaps between the two.

But, the plan didn’t end up working for him. He started taking courses in molecular biology and really enjoyed it. So, he did another postdoctoral fellowship at Memorial Sloan–Kettering Cancer Center for some hands-on experience, then joined the National Institutes of Health in 1998 where he started his own lab.

“The key thing is to be really honest with yourself, see what you enjoy and be fearless about pursuing it, whatever it is,” Nussenzweig said.

“Even if your background and your training aren’t great fits for the role,” he added. “Because you’ll just learn it as you go.”

Nussenzweig will receive the 2025 Bert and Natalie Vallee Award in Biomedical Science, which the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology presents to an established scientist for outstanding accomplishments in basic biomedical research. His lab studies how DNA damage arises in cancer, as well as in noncancerous, nondividing cells such as neurons.