The faculty of the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology presented Sue Wessler, PhD, with the Institute’s Life Sciences Prize in October 2019. The prize recognizes scientists who have made innovative contributions to life sciences research with the potential for positive impact on human health and social well-being.
Wessler’s laboratory studies transposable elements with a focus on their identification in newly sequenced genomes. Transposable elements appear in different parts of the genome, sometimes seeming to move and multiply at will. Understanding these elements is key to understanding the massive genomes of many important crops.
Wessler also pushes the world of science education forward, having introduced innovative new programs to get undergraduates in the lab at her home campus, the University of California-Riverside.
The Life Sciences Prize was instituted in 2008 by HudsonAlpha co-founder, Lonnie McMillian, and recognizes an academic scientist who has made outstanding and ongoing contributions that emphasize imagination, innovation, and the potential for impact on society and/or human health.
The HudsonAlpha faculty select awardees with outstanding achievements in scientific discovery, genomic medicine, economic development and public science education. Award recipients reflect HudsonAlpha’s core values of cooperation, collaboration and the ability to integrate ideas across different areas of thought and expertise.
Congratulations to Sue Wessler for the honor.
