The European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) has elected Job Dekker, PhD, Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, the Joseph J. Byrne Chair in Biomedical Research, professor of biochemistry & molecular pharmacology, and co-director of the Program in Systems Biology, to lifetime membership in the organization. Dr. Dekker and 62 other leading scientists from around the world were elected in recognition of their remarkable achievements in the life sciences.
“The new members have contributed to the success of research in the life sciences in Europe and around the world,” said EMBO Director Maria Leptin. “As EMBO members, they can help to shape the future through EMBO’s work to support talented researchers, bring ideas together, and promote an international research environment conducive to excellent science.”
Dekker, an HHMI investigator since 2015, is a pioneer in the study and understanding of the three-dimensional structure of the genome; in 2018, he was the recipient of the Novitski Prize, which recognizes a single experimental accomplishment or a body of work in which an exceptional level of creativity and intellectual ingenuity has been used to design and execute scientific experiments to solve a difficult problem in genetics
EMBO’s tradition of recognizing outstanding life scientists as members dates back to 1963, when an initial group of 150 members were selected by EMBO’s Council. Since then, EMBO members have been invited to nominate and elect exceptional researchers to join the community, which now exceeds 1,800 members and associate members. Elections for EMBO members are held annually. The new EMBO members join a growing list of renowned researchers elected before them, which includes 88 Nobel laureates.
An online directory listing all EMBO Members, their affiliations and areas of expertise is available at people.embo.org.