EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — A biochemist from El Paso working at UT Southwestern Medical Center (UTSW) in Dallas has won the Lasker Award, which is considered “America’s Nobel” and one of the highest honors in medicine.
Biochemist Dr. Steve McKnight, working with a colleague in Germany, uncovered how certain proteins they dubbed “ugly duckling” proteins contribute to serious neurological disorders, according to a news release by UTSW.
UTSW said Dr. McKnight’s studies – focused on proteins of low sequence complexity – have revealed how these disordered proteins can reversibly self-associate to control innumerable forms of dynamic cellular organization and aggregate in a manner that leads to neurologic and neurodegenerative disease.
“His work over the past three decades has exemplified our institution’s commitment to curiosity-driven research by advancing our understanding of cellular and molecular mechanisms, which ultimately inform new approaches to disease treatment,” said Daniel K. Podolsky, M.D., President of UT Southwestern. “We are thrilled to see the importance of his fundamental discoveries into the role of low complexity proteins in basic cellular functions recognized by this year’s Lasker Basic Medical Research Award…