Honors for Bassler, Hirschberg and Prinz

Bassler listed in Forbes’ 50 Over 50

Bonnie Bassler

Bonnie Bassler has been named to Forbes’ 50 Over 50 list, which includes entrepreneurs, investors, inventors and artists over the age of 50. The finalists were chosen by a panel of 50 Over 50 alumnae including Suze Orman, Laura Geller, Theresia Gouw, Brenda Darden Wilkerson and others.

Bassler is a professor and chair of molecular biology at Princeton University. She is a leader in the field of quorum sensing, the process by which bacteria communicate with chemicals, detect the number of neighboring cells present and, as collectives, change their behaviors. The Bassler lab’s goal is to understand how bacteria detect multiple sensory cues, and how the integration and processing of this information results in the precise regulation of gene expression.

Bassler became a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator in 2005. Among her honors are a 2002 MacArthur Foundation fellowship, colloquially known as the genius award; election to the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Medicine, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Royal Society; and numerous research prizes. She is active in science outreach, describing bacterial communication in lectures, TED talks and videos. Bassler was a member of the National Science Board and was nominated to that position by President Barack Obama. In that role, she helped oversee the National Science Foundation and prioritize the nation’s research and educational endeavors in science, math and engineering.

Hirschberg named honorary professor

Carlos Hirschberg

Carlos Hirschberg has been named an honorary professor at the Universidad Andres Bello of Chile. This honor is given to faculty who have provided outstanding services to the university. For over a decade, Hirschberg taught a seminar course to molecular biosciences and biotechnology graduate students, which was based on the Journal of Biological Chemistry series, JBC Classics.

Hirschberg is a professor emeritus of molecular and cell biology at Boston University. His lab focused on posttranslational modification regulation during development and disease. The Hirschberg group discovered novel transporters in the membranes of the Golgi apparatus and endoplasmic reticulum that translocate nucleotide sugars, nucleotide sulfate and adenosine triphosphate in the organelle lumen, where they serve as donors for modifications of membrane and secreted proteins as well as lipids. In 2013, he won the Rosalind Kornfeld Award from the Society for Glycobiology. Hirschberg also served on the JBC editorial board as well as the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Membership and Publications committees.

Prinz named ASCB fellow

William Prinz

William Prinz was recently named one of 17 fellows by the American Society for Cell Biology. Fellows are nominated and selected by their peers for their meritorious efforts to advance cell biology.

Prinz is a professor and chair of cell biology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. His lab studies organelle biogenesis and intracellular lipid trafficking and homeostasis. Specifically, they are interested in lipid exchange at membrane contacts sites, endoplasmic reticulum–subdomains and lipid droplets. Prinz is a member of the Journal of Biological Chemistry editorial board. He received a bachelor’s degree from Vassar College and earned his Ph.D. as well as completed postdoctoral training at Harvard Medical School. Prior to coming to UTSW, Prinz worked at the National Institutes of Health.

The new cohort of fellows will be recognized at Cell Bio 2024, the joint meeting of the American Society for Cell Biology and the European Molecular Biology Organization in San Diego.