2021 LOUNSBERY AWARD RECIPIENT: FENG ZHANG

Feng Zhang, from the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, the McGovern Institute for Brain Research, and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, has won the 2021 Lounsbery Award for his pioneering achievements developing CRISPR tools with the potential to diagnose and treat disease. He and his team have developed molecular tools with the potential to better understand and treat various disorders, such as those affecting the nervous system. Additionally, Zhang has championed the open sharing of his technologies to accelerate research around the globe, as thousands of scientists have already used his innovative tools.

"Feng Zhang, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, MIT, the McGovern Institute for Brain Research, and Howard Hughes Medical Institute will receive the 2021 Richard Lounsbery Award.

Zhang pioneered CRISPR-mediated genome editing. He continues to lead the field through the discovery of novel CRISPR systems and their development as molecular tools with the potential to diagnose and treat disease, such as disorders affecting the nervous system.

Zhang’s contributions in genome engineering, as well as his earlier work developing optogenetics, are enabling a deeper understanding of behavioral neural circuits and advances in gene therapy for treating disease.

In addition, Zhang has championed the open sharing of the technologies he has developed through extensive resource sharing. The tools from his lab are being used by thousands of scientists around the world to accelerate research in nearly every field of the life sciences.

Even as biomedical researchers around the world adopt Zhang’s discoveries and his tools enter the clinic to treat genetic diseases, he continues to innovate and develop new technologies to advance science." (Excerpt from the National Academy of Sciences)

Press Release from the National Academy of Sciences.

See the Zhang Lab.