Heidelberg, 15 October 2008 – Fifty-nine leading life scientists from Europe and around the world were today recognised by the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) for their proven excellence in research. Fifty-one of the researchers, distinguished as EMBO Members, are from Europe and neighbouring countries, while eight equally respected scientists come from other parts of the world and join as Associate Members, bringing the current membership total to 1360.
Membership is a life-long honour with new members nominated and elected annually by existing members. EMBO Members represent a high-profile cross section of researchers from all fields of molecular life sciences ranging from developmental biology, genomics, molecular medicine, neuroscience and plant biology to systems biology. Forty-eight scientists from the EMBO membership have received the Nobel Prize, many others are recipients of prestigious international awards.
"We welcome this illustrious group of researchers to EMBO membership. Their individual contributions have significantly advanced the molecular life sciences," said Hermann Bujard, EMBO Director. "As EMBO Members, they will participate in the organisation's numerous activities that foster talented scientists to contribute knowledge to address the challenges of a changing world."
The newly elected EMBO Members are active researchers, based in 13 European countries. Associate Members have research groups in Australia, Singapore and the US. This year, nine women scientists are recognised for their significant contributions to life science research. A list of all newly elected EMBO Members and Associate Members accompanies this announcement.
EMBO will welcome this year's newly elected members and associate members at The EMBO Meeting to be held in Amsterdam from 29 August to 1 September 2009.
2008 NEWLY ELECTED EMBO MEMBERS
Klaus Aktories, Germany
Leif Andersson, Sweden
Peter Angel, Germany
Bruno Antonny, France
Cecília Arraiano, Portugal
Nenad Ban, Switzerland
Philippe Bastiaens, Germany
Thomas Boller, Switzerland
Thomas Bourgeron, France
Sarah Bray, United Kingdom
James Briscoe, United Kingdom
Javier Cáceres, United Kingdom
Giacomo Cavalli, France
Elena Conti, Germany
Wouter de Laat, Netherlands
Paul Freemont, United Kingdom
Stephen Fuller, United Kingdom
Thierry Gaude, France,
Michel Georges, Belgium
Colin Goding, United Kingdom
Alex Gould, United Kingdom
Thanos Halazonetis, Switzerland
Dirk Heinz, Germany
Ykä Helariutta, Finland
Winship Herr, Switzerland
Heribert Hirt, France
Judith Klumperman, Netherlands
Pierre Léopold, France
Gary Richard Lewin, Germany
Peter Lichter, Germany
Maria Pia Longhese, Italy
Andrew Lumsden, United Kingdom
Gero Miesenböck, United Kingdom
Luigi Naldini, Italy
Manolis Pasparakis, Germany
Daniel Peeper, Netherlands
Joseph Penninger, Austria
Salomé Prat, Spain
Olivier Schwartz, France
Camilla Sjögren, Sweden
Len Stephens, United Kingdom
Brigitta Stockinger, United Kingdom
Markus Stoffel, Switzerland
Tomoyuki Tanaka, United Kingdom
Mike Tyers, United Kingdom
Helle Ulrich, United Kingdom
Bas van Steensel, Netherlands
Bart Vanhaesebroeck, United Kingdom
Núria Verdaguer, Spain
Siniša Volarević, Croatia
Roger Williams, United Kingdom
2008 NEWLY ELECTED ASSOCIATE MEMBERS
Spyros Artavanis-Tsakonas, United States
Claude Desplan, United States
Scott Emr, United States
Ronald N. Germain, United States
Richard Paul Harvey, Australia
Ed Liu, Singapore
Elliot M. Meyerowitz, United States
Thomas Silhavy, United States