Laureates 2024
Physiology or Medicine
VICTOR AMBROS
“For the discovery of microRNA and its role in post-transcriptional gene regulation.”
Ambros and Gary Ruvkun shared the prize for their discovery of microRNAs, a fundamental component of how gene activity is regulated, which transformed our knowledge of cell development and the kinds of genetic material contained within the cells in all types of organisms. Their groundbreaking discovery has led to advances in medicine, agriculture and other fields. NSF has supported the research work of Ambros, including his early work to identify the first microRNA ever discovered, and that discovery resulted in one of the key publications cited by the Nobel Prize committee.
Physics
JOHN J. HOPFIELD | GEOFFREY E. HINTON
“For foundational discoveries and inventions that enable machine learning with artificial neural networks.”
Hopfield and Hinton's research and innovations helped make possible "machines that learn" — artificial neural networks with the ability to store and reconstruct information and recognize complex patterns within data. NSF supported the laureates' pioneering work in the 1980s, which helped create the foundation for the AI revolution of today, including Hopfield's seminal 1982 paper "Neural networks and physical systems with emergent collective computational abilities." Hopfield and Hinton's multiple breakthroughs, achieved independently, used fundamental concepts and methods from physics to develop new computer technologies that mimic an organic brain's ability to process information through memory and learning.
Chemistry
DAVID BAKER
"For computational protein design."
Baker and his colleagues revolutionized protein design enabling the creation of protein structures never seen in nature, many of which have potential as therapeutics or treatments, new materials or in other applications. NSF has supported the Protein Data Bank (PDB), the critical repository for structure data for large biological molecules that enabled the work of all the awardees, for nearly five decades. In addition to its support of PDB, NSF has continuously supported Baker's career since his Young Investigator award in 1994.
Economics
DARON ACEMOGLU | SIMON JOHNSON | JAMES A. ROBINSON
“For studies of how institutions are formed and affect prosperity.”
Acemoglu, Johnson and Robinson's studies on how societies form political and economic institutions that affect a nation's prosperity provide insights into the global challenge of inequality and charts a path for nations striving for prosperity and democracy. The laureates' research, supported by NSF and spanning two decades, transformed the understanding of why nations differ in prosperity and how choices about governance and other factors in a nation's history — particularly following colonization — can influence those differences for centuries.
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