Hoboken, N.J-February 9, 2023-The Wiley Foundation is pleased to announce that the 21st annual Wiley Prize in Biomedical Sciences will be awarded to Michael Welsh, Paul Negulescu, Fredrick Van Goor, and Sabine Hadida for research and development leading to medicines that effectively treat cystic fibrosis by correcting the folding, trafficking, and functioning of the mutated cystic fibrosis transmembrane regulator (CFTR).
Michael Welsh is a Carver College of Medicine Professor and Director of the Pappajohn Biomedical Institute, University of Iowa; Paul Negulescu is Senior Vice President, Vertex Pharmaceuticals; Fredrick Van Goor is Vice President and Head of Cystic Fibrosis Research, Vertex Pharmaceuticals; and Sabine Hadida is Vice President, Vertex Pharmaceuticals.
"This award recognizes a decades-long effort to determine what is wrong with mutated CFTR (cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator) in cystic fibrosis patients and the subsequent discovery of three drugs that work in novel ways to correct the folding and channel defects of mutant CFTR. The combination of fundamental research by Mike Welsh at the University of Iowa, and drug discovery by Paul Negulescu, Sabine Hadida, and Fred Van Goor at Vertex has improved the lives of thousands of cystic fibrosis patients," said Dr. Titia de Lange of Rockefeller University, Chairperson of the Wiley Prize awards jury.
"The Wiley Foundation honors research that not only offers breakthrough solutions to existing problems in biomedical sciences, but also fuels future discoveries," said Deborah Wiley, Chair of the Wiley Foundation. "The work of the 2023 Wiley Prize recipients truly upholds this mission, recognizing a milestone in public health that has uncovered the cause and treatment for 90% of cystic fibrosis patients, improving the lives of those impacted by this genetic disorder."
First awarded in 2002, The Wiley Prize in Biomedical Sciences is presented annually to recognize contributions that have opened new fields of research or have advanced concepts in a particular biomedical discipline. Among the many distinguished recipients of the Wiley Prize in Biomedical Sciences, 13 have gone on to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine and two have gone on to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
This year's award of $50,000 will be presented to the winners at the Wiley Prize lecture, delivered as part of The Rockefeller University Lecture Series at 11:00 am EST on March 31, 2023. This event will be live-streamed and registration is free.
