GITAM Foundation Award to Nobel Laureate

Hyderabad: GITAM Deemed to be University is proud to honour Michael Warren Young, Nobel Laureate, and Rockefeller University, New York, USA with GITAM Foundation Annual Award-2018 for his seminal contributions to the field of Science in the 38th GITAM foundation day celebrations to be held on Saturday. 

Michael Warren Young is a world-renowned biologist and geneticist, who were awarded 2017 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine along with Jeffrey C Hall and Michael Rosbash for “discovering molecular mechanisms that regulate the circadian rhythm (the 24-hour period of biological activity) in humans and other organisms”. Young dedicated over three decades to research studying genetically controlled patterns of sleep and wakefulness within a fruit fly known as Drosophila malanogaster. 

In 1984, Young successfully isolated and sequenced the period gene which plays a key role in the regulation of the internal clock responsible for biological rhythms. He showed that introducing a fragment of DNA from the period gene into the genome of flies restored circadian rhythm, thereby demonstrating the functional significance of the gene. Young also discovered the timeless and double time genes, which produce proteins that are also necessary for circadian rhythm. 

Young’s work has direct implications for understanding human sleep disorders, the mechanism of jet lag and the challenges of working on the night shift. Young was also recognized with numerous other awards during his career, including the Gruber Foundation Neuroscience Prize (2009), the Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize (2011) and the Canada Gairdner International Award (2012), all shared with Hall and Rosbash. He was an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences (2007).

GITAM Foundation Annual Award

GITAM Foundation Award is instituted with a benevolent donation by noted philanthropist MVVS Murthi, who created a corpus of Rs.30 million. As per the desire of the donor, a part of the interest earned is presented as ‘GITAM Foundation Award’ on GITAM Foundation Day every year to an eminent person in recognition of the exemplary services rendered by him/her in the chosen field for the benefit of the society at large.  The award, consisting of a plaque and a cheque for Rs.10 lac, is presented for the last 11 years to an eminent personality for his or her contribution in the fields of Education, Economics, Science, Literature, Fine Arts, and Public Service etc.