The 19th annual Neuronal Plasticity Prize has been awarded to Jean–Pierre Changeux (Collège de France and Institut Pasteur, Paris), Peter W. Kalivas (University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Charleston) and Eric J. Nestler (University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas) for their research in the domain of molecular targets of drug abuse.
The ?60,000 prize was awarded yesterday by an international jury led by Professor Wolf Singer (Max–Planck Institute for Brain Research, Frankfurt, Germany) at the 6th Forum of the European Neuroscience Societies in Geneva, Switzerland.
Commenting on the award, Professor Singer said: "I am delighted to announce Jean–Pierre Changeux, Peter Kalivas and Eric Nestler as just winners of this prize. The voting panel were impressed with quality of their research in this area.
The Neuronal Plasticity Prize is recognised as a symbol of excellence within neurological research. It has been awarded to some of the best specialists in the field in its 19 year history, and we are delighted to add Jean–Pierre Changeux, Peter Kalivas and Eric Nestler to this distinguished list, in acknowledgment of their achievements."
About the winners
Jean–Pierre Changeux is emeritus professor at the Pasteur Institute and at the Collège de France in Paris. He conducts studies on the experimental basis and theoretical foundations of allosteric interactions between topographically distinct sites in proteins, and subsequently identifies the first protein receptor of a neurotransmitter –the nicotinic receptor of acetylcholine– and contributes to the understanding of its role in higher brain functions. He is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, of the French Académie des Sciences and the recipient of numerous honours.
Peter W. Kalivas is a Professor and Chair in the Department of Neurosciences at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. He is best known for his work to elucidate the molecular adaptations and neurocircuitry that underlie addiction, with a focus on characterizing the neuroplasticity produced by chronic use of addictive drugs in the prefrontal cortex and its glutamatergic projections to the striatum. This work has characterized the involvement of certain proteins in the postsynaptic density in regulating addictive behaviours, such as NAC–1, Homer and AGS3. Moreover, the drug–induced neuroplasticity in glutamate transmission has become a source of potential pharmacotherapeutic targets for treating addiction, including the cystine–glutamate exchanger, glutamate transporter and metabotropic glutamate receptors.
Eric J. Nestler is the Lou and Ellen McGinley Distinguished Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychiatry at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas and a member of the Institute of Medicine and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He elucidated the effects of several transcription factors on the mechanisms of addiction. The goal of Prof. Nestler´s research is to better understand the molecular mechanisms of addiction and depression based on work in animal models, and to use this information to develop improved treatments of these disorders.
About the Neuronal Plasticity Prize
Founded in 1990, the Neuronal Plasticity Prize of La Fondation Ipsen has been awarded to renowned specialists: Albert Aguayo (Montréal, 1990), Anders Björklund (Lund, 1990), Fred Gage (La Jolla, 1990), Ursula Bellugi (La Jolla, 1991), Wolf Singer (Frankfurt, 1990), Torsten Wiesel (New York, 1991), Philippe Ascher (Paris, 1992), Kjell Fuxe (Stockholm, 1992), Terje Lomo (Oslo, 1992), Per Andersen (Oslo, 1993), Masao Ito (Wako Saitama, 1993), Constantino Sotelo (Paris, 1993), Mariano Barbacid (Princeton, 1994), Yves Barde (Planegg–Martinsried, 1994), Hans Thoenen (Planegg–Martinsried, 1994), Jacques Mehler (Paris, 1995), Brenda Milner (Montreal, 1995), Mortimer Mishkin (Bethesda, 1995), Friedrich Bonhoeffer (Tubingen, 1996), Corey Goodman (Berkeley, 1996), Marc Tessier–Lavigne (San Francisco, 1996), Antonio Damasio (Iowa City, 1997), Richard Frackowiac (London, 1997), Michael Merzenich (San Francisco, 1997), Heinrich Betz (Frankfurt, 1998), Gerald Fischbach (Boston, 1998), Uel McMahan (Stanford, 1998), Masakazu Konishi (Pasadena, 1999), Peter Marler (Davis, 1999), Fernando Nottebohm (Millbrook, 1999), Tomas Hökfelt (Stockholm, 2000), Lars Olson (Stockholm, 2000), Lars Terenius (Stockholm, 2000), Albert Galaburda (Boston, 2001), John Morton (Londres, 2001), Elisabeth Spelke (Cambridge, USA, 2001), Arturo Alvarez–Buylla (San Francisco, 2002), Ronald Mc Kay (Bethesda, 2002), Sam Weiss (Calgary, 2002), François Clarac (Marseille, 2003), Sven Grillner (Stockholm, 2003), Serge Rossignol (Montréal, 2003), James Gusella (Boston, 2004), Jean–Louis Mandel (Strasbourg, 2004), Huda Y. Zoghbi (Houston, 2004), Ann Graybiel (Cambridge, USA, 2005), Trevor Robbins (Cambridge, UK, 2005), Wolfram Schultz (Cambridge, UK, 2005, Eckhart D. Gundelfinger (Magdeburg, 2006), Mary B. Kennedy (Pasadena, 2006), Morgan Sheng (Cambridge, USA, 2006), Nikos K. Logothetis (Tübingen, 2007), Keiji Tanaka (Wako, 2007) and Giacomo Rizzolati (Parma, 2007).
About La Fondation Ipsen
Established in 1983 under the aegis of the Fondation de France, the mission of La Fondation Ipsen is to contribute to the development and dissemination of scientific knowledge. Its mission is to durably encourage interaction between research scientists and clinicians. The ambition of La Fondation Ipsen is to trigger debate on major scientific challenges for years to come. It has developed an important international network of scientific experts who meet regularly at meetings known as Colloques Médecine et Recherche. Six main themes are: Alzheimer´s disease, neurosciences, longevity, endocrinology, the vascular tree and oncology. In 2007, La Fondation Ipsen started three new series of meetings in partnership with Nature and the Salk Institute" Biological Complexity ", Nature " Emergence and Convergence ", Cell and the Massachusetts General Hospital "Exciting Biologies". Since its beginning, La Fondation Ipsen has organised more than 73 international conferences, published 65 volumes with renowned publishers and 199 issues of Alzheimer Actualités. It has also awarded dozens of prizes and grants.
