Ardem Patapoutian, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 2021

Ardem Patapoutian Արտեմ Փաթափութեան, آرديم باتابوتيان‎ (born 1967) is a Lebanese-American molecular biologist and neuroscientist of Armenian descent at Scripps Research in La Jolla, California. He won the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 2021.

Education

Patapoutian attended the American University of Beirut before emigrating to the United States in 1986. He received a bachelor's degree in cell and developmental biology from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1990 and a Ph.D. in biology from the California Institute of Technology in 1996. As a postdoctoral fellow, Patapoutian worked with Louis F. Reichardt at the University of California, San Francisco. In 2000, he became an assistant professor at the Scripps Research Institute. Between 2000 and 2014 he had an additional research position for the Novartis Research Foundation. Since 2014 Patapoutian has been an investigator for the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI).

Research and career

Patapoutian's research is into the biological receptors for temperature and touch (nociception). The knowledge is used to develop treatments for a range of diseases, including chronic pain. The discoveries made it possible to understand how heat, cold and mechanical forces trigger nerve impulses. He researches the signal transduction of sensors. He made significant contributions to the identification of novel ion channels and receptors that are activated by temperature, mechanical forces or increased cell volume. Patapoutian and co-workers were able to show that these ion channels play an outstanding role in the sensation of temperature, in the sensation of touch, in proprioception, in the sensation of pain and in the regulation of vascular tone. More recent work uses functional genomics techniques to identify and characterize mechanosensitive ion channels (mechanotransduction).

Awards and honors

• 2016 - Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science since.
• 2017 - Member of the National Academy of Sciences since.
• 2017 - the W. Alden Spencer Award,
• 2019 - the Rosenstiel Award,
• 2020 - the Kavli Prize for Neuroscience.
• 2020 - the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Biology / Biomedicine.
• 2020 - Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
• 2021 - Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (jointly with David Julius)

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https://www.lorientlejour.com/article/1276911/un-scientifique-dorig...



Ardem Sarkis Patapoutian was born in Beirut and speaks fondly of his trips to the Mediterranean Sea and the wooded mountains surrounding Beirut, and “the beautiful campus of the American University of Beirut." As a pre-med sophomore majoring in chemistry, he studied at AUB during the academic year 1985-86. He completed 31 credit hours and was placed on the dean's honor list.



https://www.aub.edu.lb/articles/Pages/Nobel_Prize_AUB_alumnus_Ardem...




Ardem Patapoutian attended the American University of Beirut. He then got a Bachelor’s degree in cell and developmental biology from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1990, and a Ph.D. in biology from the California Institute of Technology in 1996.

Ardem then worked with Louis F. Reichardt at the University of California San Francisco as a postdoctoral fellow and became an assistant professor at Scripps Research Institute in 2000.

From 2000 to 2014, Ardem word as an additional researcher for the Novartis Research Foundation, and since 2014, he has been an investigator for the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI).