Dr. Pourquié won the award for his work on the molecular processes responsible for somitogenesis in vertebrates. He has clearly shown the existence and role of a molecular clock that regulates the segmentation of somites.

     “Dr. Pourquié has accomplished much at a relatively early stage in his career,” said Robb Krumlauff, Ph.D., Scientific Director. “All of us at the Stowers Institute are pleased to see his work given this well-earned recognition in his home country.”

     Dr. Pourquié joined the Stowers Institute in 2003 from the Developmental Biology Institute of Marseille, France. He completed undergraduate and graduate studies at the Cellular and Molecular Embryology Institute, Nogent-sur-Marne, and holds a Ph.D. from the National Agronomy Institute, Paris-Grignon.

     In addition to a long list of publications in leading peer-reviewed journals such as Science and Nature, Dr. Pourquié was credited with one of 24 landmark discoveries in developmental biology over the past 100 years by the editors of the Nature Publishing Group. He recently accepted an appointment with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in support of his ongoing research at the Stowers Institute.

About the Stowers Institute
     Housed in a 600,000 square-foot state-of-the-art facility on a 10-acre campus in the heart of Kansas City, Missouri, the Stowers Institute for Medical Research conducts basic research on fundamental processes of cellular life. Through its commitment to collaborative research and the use of cutting-edge technology, the Institute seeks more effective means of preventing and curing disease. The Institute was founded by Jim and Virginia Stowers, two cancer survivors who have endowed it with $2 billion in support of basic research of the highest quality.