Dr. Roderick MacKinnon (born 1956 in Burlington, Massachusetts) An award-winning scientist, in the biophysics field, he has produced groundbreaking research detailing the way the body's electrical systems function, by unlocking the secrets of the body's ion channel proteins. In 2003 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (shared with Peter Agre) for his work on structural and mechanistic studies of ion channels.
Before MacKinnon came along, medical science knew that ion channels were important but not much else; the channel's architecture and precise operation remained a mystery. But in 1998, MacKinnon unlocked the channel's secrets, resulting in one of the biggest scientific breakthroughs of the year.
The discovery may lead to the creation of pharmaceuticals that are more targeted and more effective. Described by Science Magazine as "one of the 10 biggest science stories of 1998," MacKinnon's work earned him one of science's top honors.
In 1999, he was awarded the Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research -- the nation's most distinguished honor for outstanding contributions to basic and clinical medical research. The prizes were established in 1946 and are often called "America's Nobels" -- more than half of all Lasker winners since 1962 have gone on to win the Nobel Prize.
A professor of Molecular Neurobiology and Biophysics at the Rockefeller University and an investigator with Howard Hughes Medical Institute, MacKinnon was elected to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences in 2000.
He received a bachelor's degree in biochemistry from Brandeis University in 1978 and a medical degree from Tufts University School of Medicine. He completed his residency in internal medicine at Beth Israel Hospital and postdoctoral work at Brandeis with Christopher Miller .
Dr. MacKinnon has received numerous awards for his research, including the 2000 Rosenstiel Award and the 2001 Gairdner Foundation International Award.
He is a member of the Alpha Omega Medical Honor Society, a PEW scholar in the BioMedical Sciences and the recipient of the McKnight Scholars Award, the Biophysical Society Young Investigator Award, the McKnight Investigator Award, the W. Alden Spencer Award and the AAAS Newcomb Cleveland Prize.
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