Eric Kandel Wins National Academies' 2007 Communication Award
Nobel Laureate Eric R. Kandel Wins Prize for Personal Memoir“In Search of Memory: The Emergence of a New Science of Mind”.
NEW YORK – Eric R. Kandel, M.D., University Professor of physiology and cell biophysics, psychiatry, biochemistry and molecular biophysics at Columbia University, where he is also the Kavli Professor, director of the Kavli Institute for Brain Sciences, and a senior investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, has been awarded the National Academies’ Best Book of the Year Award for his personal memoir, In Search of Memory: The Emergence of a New Science of Mind (W.W. Norton, 2006). Dr. Kandel is the 2000 Nobel Laureate for Physiology or Medicine.
“I am simply thrilled to have my book recognized in this way by the National Academies, the most significant scientific society in this country and one of which I feel very proud to belong,” said Dr. Kandel.
Since 2003, the National Academies has annually presented three communication awards to authors, journalists and producers. This prestigious award recognizes demonstrated excellence in reporting and communicating science, engineering and/or medicine to the general public through print, Internet, radio or television.
Dr. Kandel was honored during a ceremony on Nov. 14 at the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Center in Irvine, Calif.
A graduate of Harvard College and New York University School of Medicine, Dr. Kandel trained in neurobiology at the National Institutes of Health and in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. He has been recognized with the Albert Lasker Award, the Heineken Award of the Netherlands, the Gairdner Award of Canada, the Wolf Prize of Israel, and the National Medal of Science USA, and has received 15 honorary degrees. Kandel’s research has been concerned with the molecular mechanisms of memory storage in the sea slug Aplysia and mice.
The National Academies brings together committees of experts in all areas of scientific and technological endeavor. These experts serve pro bono to address critical national issues and give advice to the federal government and the public.
Four organizations comprise the Academies: the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, the Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council.
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