Pew CEO Rebecca W. Rimel Congratulates Dr. Carol W. Greider on Receiving the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

Philadelphia, PA -  Rebecca W. Rimel, President and CEO of The Pew Charitable Trusts, issued the following statement today, congratulating Pew Biomedical Scholar Carol W. Greider, Ph.D., on receiving the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Dr. Greider, a professor in the department of molecular biology and genetics at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, shares this highest award with Jack W. Szostak of Massachusetts General Hospital and Elizabeth H. Blackburn of the University of California, San Francisco. The trio won “for the discovery of how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase.”

“The Pew Charitable Trusts extends our warmest congratulations to Dr. Greider on her achievement in winning the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

In 1990, she was selected as a Pew Scholar in the Biomedical Sciences, receiving support over four years for her research in telomere length regulation. We at Pew are constantly awed by the trailblazing research spearheaded by members of the Pew Scholars in the Biomedical Sciences program, and we could not be more proud of our most recent Nobel Prize winner. Dr. Greider's identification of telomerase and its role in cell division, especially that of tumor cells and stem cells, is already having a revolutionary impact in the biomedical sciences.

We congratulate Dr. Greider and also extend our gratitude for the continuing academic excellence, drive and imagination of all the Pew Scholars working in laboratories around the nation.”

About the Pew Scholars Program

The Pew Scholars program identifies and invests in young investigators of outstanding promise in science relevant to the advancement of human health. The program provides crucial support that enables scientists to take calculated risks and follow unanticipated leads to maximize the benefits of their research for society. Scholars also gain inclusion into a select community of scientists that includes three Nobel Prize winners, MacArthur Fellows and recipients of the Albert Lasker Medical Research Award.

Now in its 25th year, the program has invested more than $125 million to fund over 460 scholars. For additional information on the Pew Scholars Program in the Biomedical Sciences, please visit www.pewscholars.org.