The RNA Society has conferred its first Elisa Izaurralde to Lori Passmore, a Group Leader in the LMB’s Structural Studies Division, for innovation in research, teaching, and service.
“I feel deeply honoured to be awarded the 2020 Elisa Izaurralde Award. This is a recognition of so much amazing work done by past and present lab members, as well as collaborators. Our achievements over the past years would not have been possible without the long-term funding provided by MRC and ERC, who have supported us from the beginning,” said Lori.
Elisa Izaurralde was an RNA biologist and former director of the Department of Biochemistry at the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology in Tübingen, Germany, who passed away last year. The award honours her passion, scientific rigour, intellectual fearlessness, and wholehearted dedication to her work, her group, and her collaborators.
Lori added, “I highly respected Elisa’s rigorous and innovative work, and I really valued her contributions. Therefore, I am particularly touched to receive this award in her name.”
The RNA Society is a non-profit, international scientific society with more than 1,800 members dedicated to fostering research and education in the field of RNA science. This award supports the Society’s mission to foster research and education by awarding early career researchers pursuing or using innovative approaches in research, teaching or service.
Lori’s award citation honours her work on the understanding of mechanisms of RNA polyadenylation and deadenylation, as well as their coupling to transcription and translation, in addition to her role as a dedicated mentor, passionate science educator and activist.
Lori’s research at the LMB focuses on the molecular machines that regulate mRNA polyA tails, which are critical for the export of mRNA into the cytoplasm, and for mRNA stability. Her group uses many techniques to understand the molecular mechanisms, in particular, electron cryo-microscopy, alongside X-ray crystallographic, biophysical, biochemical and genetic techniques.
Lori will receive the award and give a talk at RNA 2020, the RNA Society’s annual meeting, in Vancouver, Canada, in May 2020.