Phillip Sharp To Receive Othmer Gold Medal

Phillip A. Sharp, Institute Professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and faculty member of the department of biology and the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, is the winner of the 2015 Othmer Gold Medal. He will receive the award during Heritage Day on May 14 at the Chemical Heritage Foundation.

Sharp’s research interests have centered on the molecular biology of gene expression relevant to cancer and the mechanisms of RNA splicing. His landmark work in 1977 provided the first indications of “discontinuous genes” in mammalian cells. The discovery fundamentally changed scientists’ understanding of gene structure and earned Sharp the 1993 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Sharp is a cofounder of Biogen (now Biogen Idec) and Alnylam Pharmaceuticals.