Columbia to award 2008 Horwitz Prize to Arthur Horwich & Ulrich Hartl for cellular prote...(l who appreciate great achievements desp...)

Elucidating the structure of DNA, a project that Dr. Franklin's work was vital to, is one of the greatest biological discoveries of the past century. It helped scientists understand how DNA carries the genetic code, and the consequences of genetic mutations on human disease and function. Using X-ray crystallography, Dr. Franklin obtained the data that James Watson and Francis Crick used to develop the double helix model of DNA. However, the contributions of Dr. Franklin were never recognized with a Nobel Prize because she died 50 years ago at the age of 37, four years before the Nobel Prize for deducing the structure of DNA was awarded to Watson, Crick and Maurice Wilkins.

The Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize was established by Columbia University to recognize outstanding contributions to basic research in the fields of biology and biochemistry. Awarded annually since 1967, the prize is named for the mother of Columbia benefactor S. Gross Horwitz. Louisa Gross Horwitz was daughter of Dr. Samuel David Gross, author of "A System of Surgery" and a founder of the American Medical Association. For additional information about the Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize, visit: http://www.cumc.columbia.edu/horwitz.

The Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize Lectures will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 25. 2008 award winner Dr. Hartl will give his lecture at noon in the Davis Auditorium (rm. 412), Schapiro Center, 530 W. 120th Street, at Columbia University's Morningside Campus; and 2008 award winner Dr. Horwich will give his lecture at 3:30 p.m. in the Alumni Auditorium, College of Physicians & Surgeons building, 650 West 168th Street, at Columbia University Medical Center.

Plans are tentatively underway to honor Dr. Rosalind Franklin with a special symposium on Monday, Nov. 24.

For more information about the lectures, visit