Vanderbilt Prize winners are women who have made significant contributions to the science of medicine. At Vanderbilt, we believe that for society to benefit from biomedical research, we must engage women in basic and clinical investigation, nurture their careers, and attract the most capable individuals. We created the Vanderbilt Prize in Biomedical Science to honor and recognize a woman scientist of national reputation who has a stellar record of research accomplishments and is known for her mentorship of women in science. The Vanderbilt Prize winner also nurtures the career, research, and studies of a promising woman beginning her PhD studies at Vanderbilt. The prize recipient gives a lecture at Vanderbilt, will serve as a mentor to the Vanderbilt Prize Scholar, and receives an honorarium.
Nominations are now being accepted for the 2017 Vanderbilt Prize in Biomedical Science. Download the nomination form.
Prize Recipients
2016
Elaine Fuchs, Ph.D.
Rebecca C. Lancefield Professor of the Laboratory of Mammalian Cell Biology and Development, The Rockefeller University
Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
A video of Dr. Fuchs' Vanderbilt Prize lecture, Stem Cells in Science, Action, and Cancer, as a part of the Flexner Discovery Lecture Series held on March 30, 2017, at 4 p.m. in 208 Light Hall, will be available after May 4, 2017.
2015
Huda Y. Zoghbi, M.D.
Director, Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children’s Hospital
Professor, Baylor College of Medicine
Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
See a video of Dr. Zoghbi's Vanderbilt Prize lecture "The Story of Rett Syndrome and the Insight it Provides into Neuropsychiatric Disorders," as a part of the Flexner Discovery Lecture Series held on April 21, 2016, at 4 p.m. in 208 Light Hall.
2014
Susan Lindquist, Ph.D.
Professor of Biology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Member, Whitehead Institute
Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
See a video of Dr. Lindquist's Vanderbilt Prize lecture "From Yeast to Human Stem Cells: A Powerful Discovery Platform For Combatting Neurodegenerative Diseases," as part of the Flexner Discovery Lecture Series held on November 19, 2015, at 4 p.m. in 208 Light Hall. Dr. Lindquist died of cancer in October 2016.
2013
Laurie Glimcher, M.D.
Stephen and Suzanne Weiss Dean and Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College
Provost for Medical Affairs of Cornell University
See a video of Dr. Glimcher's Vanderbilt Prize Lecture "ER Stress Sensors in Disease," as part of the Flexner Discovery Lecture Series held on Thursday, May 1 at 4 p.m. in 208 Light Hall. Dr. Glimcher is now president and CEO of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
2012
Joan A. Steitz, Ph.D.
Sterling Professor of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry
Yale School of Medicine
Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
See a video of Dr. Steitz's Vanderbilt Prize Lecture titled "Noncoding RNAs: with a viral twist," held on May 2, 2013, at 4 p.m. in 208 Light Hall, as part of the Flexner Discovery Lecture Series.
2011
Titia de Lange, Ph.D.
Leon Hess Professor and head of the Laboratory for Cell Biology and Genetics
American Cancer Society Research Professor
Director, Anderson Center for Cancer Research
Rockefeller University, New York
See a video of Dr. de Lange's Vanderbilt Prize Lecture titled "How telomeres solve the end-protection problem" held on February 23, 2012 at 4 p.m. in 208 Light Hall, as part of the Discovery Lecture Series.
2010
Nancy Andrews, M.D., Ph.D.
Dean, Duke University School of Medicine
Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
Professor of Pediatrics
Professor of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology
See a video of Dr. Andrew's Vanderbilt Prize Lecture on "Forging an Understanding of Iron Homeostasis" held on March 31, 2011, at 4:00 p.m., in 208 Light Hall, as part of the Discovery Lecture Series.
2009
Susan Taylor, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry and Professor, Department of Pharmacology, University of California, San Diego
See a video of Dr. Taylor's Vanderbilt Prize Lecture on "Dynamics of Signaling by PKA" held on February 18, 2010, at 4:00 p.m., in 208 Light Hall, as part of the Discovery Lecture Series.
2008
Ann Graybiel, Ph.D.
Walter A Rosenblith Professor of Neuroscience, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
See a video of Dr. Graybiel's Vanderbilt Prize Lecture on "Our Habitual Lives: How the Brain Makes and Breaks Habits" held on October 30, 2008, at 4:00 p.m., in 208 Light Hall, as part of the Discovery Lecture Series.
2007
Elizabeth Blackburn, Ph.D.
Winner of the 2009 Nobel Prize for Medicine
Morris Herzstein Endowed Professor in Biology & Physiology, Department of Biochemistry & Biophysics, University of California, San Francisco
See a video of Dr. Blackburn's presentation on Telomeres and Telomerase in Health and Disease in the Discovery Lecture Series on January 10, 2008.
2006
Nancy Andreasen M.D., Ph.D.
Andrew H. Woods Chair of Psychiatry at The University of Iowa
See a video of Dr. Andreasen's presentation on The Creative Brain: The Neuroscience of Genius in the Discovery Lecture Series on September 28, 2006.
