Vallee Visiting Professors Bonnie Bassler (Princeton University) and Jeffrey Gordon (Washington University School of Medicine) have jointly received two prizes this month.  On October 5 they shared the podium with Dr Denis Kasper (Harvard Medical School) when all three were honored with the Albany Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research for their work on the microbiome -- the complex and dynamic communities of microorganisms that dwell in different parts of our body. The Albany Prize recognizes extraordinary and sustained contributions to improving health care while promoting innovative biomedical research. It is one of the largest awards in medicine and science in the United States.  Read more...

Two weeks later, on October 20, Drs Bassler and Gordon shared the 2023 Princess Asturia Award for Technical and Scientific Research with Dr Peter Greenberg (Washington University).  Spain's royal family presided over the ceremony in Oviedo.  The Princess of Asturias Awards are among the most important in the Spanish-speaking world.  Read more...

Jeffrey Gordon has spearheaded the study of the human microbiome, the set of microorganisms that inhabit our intestines, and their influence on human health, not only in nutrition, digestion and metabolism (diabetes, obesity, malnutrition), but also in the immune and neurological development of children and young people.

Bonnie Bassler is a pioneer in the study of quorum sensing, inter-bacterial communication through the emission of certain substances and how the formation of large groups generates behavior which differs from that produced when they are isolated. Her work has shown that disrupting this communication can prevent bacterial infection, paving the way for new antibiotics.