Since 1993 the Gruber Foundation honors and encourages educational excellence in the fields of Cosmology, Genetics, Neuroscience, Justice and Women’s Rights, recognizing groundbreaking work that provides new models that inspire and enable fundamental shifts in knowledge and culture.
Established in 2004, the Neuroscience Prize honors scientists for major discoveries that have advanced the understanding of the nervous system. It is awarded each year to a person or persons chosen by a distinguished advisory board of neuroscience experts from nominations that are received from around the world.
The 2021 Gruber Neuroscience Prize is being awarded to neuroscientists Christine Petit, MD, PhD, of the Institut Pasteur (joint research unit Inserm), the French Academy of Sciences and Collège de France, and, and Christopher A. Walsh, MD, PhD, of Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s Hospital, for their groundbreaking work in revealing the genetic and molecular mechanisms behind the development of inherited neurodevelopmental disorders and with a profound impact on our understanding of how the brain functions, both in health and disease.
Christine Petit is receiving the award for her seminal contributions to the understanding of the mechanisms involved with hearing and hearing loss.
The Gruber Neuroscience Prize, which includes a $500,000 award and a gold medal will be presented to Christine Petit and Christopher A. Walsh in November at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience.
For further information, please the Gruber Foundation's press release.