Roderick MacKinnon: award-winning neurobiologist

An award-winning scientist, Dr. Roderick MacKinnon has produced groundbreaking research detailing the way the body's electrical systems function, by unlocking the secrets of the body's ion channel proteins.

Before MacKinnon came along, medical science knew that ion channels were important but not much else; the channel's architecture and precise operation remained a mystery. But in 1998, MacKinnon unlocked the channel's secrets, resulting in one of the biggest scientific breakthroughs of the year.

The discovery may lead to the creation of pharmaceuticals that are more targeted and more effective. Described by Science Magazine as "one of the 10 biggest science stories of 1998," MacKinnon's work earned him one of science's top honors.

In 1999, he was awarded the Albert Lasker Basic Medical research Award -- the nation's most distinguished honor for outstanding contributions to basic and clinical medical research. The prizes were established in 1946 and are often called "America's Nobels" -- more than half of all Lasker winners since 1962 have gone on to win the Nobel Prize.

A professor of Molecular Neurobiology and Biophysics at the Rockefeller University and an investigator with Howard Hughes Medical Institute, MacKinnon was elected to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences in 2000.

He received a bachelor's degree in biochemistry from Brandeis University and a medical degree from Tufts University School of Medicine. He completed his residency in internal medicine at Beth Israel Hospital and postdoctoral work at Brandeis with Christopher Miller.

Dr. MacKinnon has received numerous awards for his research, including the 2000 Rosenstiel Award and the 2001 Gairdner Foundation International Award.

He is a member of the Alpha Omega Medical Honor Society, a PEW scholar in the BioMedical Sciences and the recipient of the McKnight Scholars Award, the Biophysical Society Young Investigator Award, the McKnight Investigator Award, the W. Alden Spencer Award and the AAAS Newcomb Cleveland Prize.

Information for this biography provided by Tufts Medicine and Rockefeller University.

	Click Here for information on the keynote speaker
	Click Here for information on honorary degree recipients
	Click Here for information on keynote speakers for Tufts'                   professional schools
	Click Here for Tufts' Commencement website