Professor Chris Marshall, Head of the Division of Cancer Biology at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, has won the prestigious Biochemical Society Centenary Award 2015. The award, announced this week, recognises his crucial contribution to the field of cell signalling.
The Centenary Award – one of a series of prestigious awards offered by the Biochemical Society – was introduced in 2011 to award a distinguished biochemist from any part of the world and Professor Marshall had stiff competition from a large number of nominees.
Upon receiving news of the award, Professor Marshall said: “It is a huge honour to be recognised by the Biochemical Society and I am delighted to receive the award. This award would not have happened without the outstanding contributions of the people who have worked in my laboratory since I started my first team leader position at the ICR in 1980. Their work has contributed to greater understanding of the causes and molecular processes that lead to cancer.”
Professor Marshall was nominated for his seminal work on cancer proteins called Ras GTPases in the 1980s and 90s, and for his more recent research on proteins from the Rho family, which are involved in translating genes into proteins.
Professor Anne Dell, Chair of the Award Committee at the Biochemical Society, said: “The Biochemical Society's awards recognise scientists at all career stages, across the full spectrum of the molecular biosciences. The award lectures in 2015 will showcase the outstanding contributions that the winners have made.”