The Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize was established under the will of the late S. Gross Horwitz through a bequest to Columbia University, and is named to honor the donor's mother. Louisa Gross Horwitz was the daughter of Dr. Samuel David Gross (1805-1889), a prominent surgeon of Philadelphia, and author of the outstanding Systems of Surgery, who served as President of the American Medical Association.  Each year, since its inception in 1967, the Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize has been awarded by Columbia University for outstanding basic research in the fields of biology or biochemistry. The purpose of this award is to honor a scientific investigator, or group of investigators, whose contributions to knowledge in either of these fields are deemed worthy of special recognition.

The Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize website

2012 Louisa Gross Horwitz Press Release

The 2012 Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize Lectures

"Dividing a Bacterial Cell" Joe Lutkenhaus, PhD University Distinguished Professor University of Kansas Medical School November 20, 2012 Lecture Time: 10:00 am Lecture Location: Davis Auditorium (Rm. 412), Schapiro Center (CEPSR) 530 West 120th Street

Joe Lutkenhaus is a University Distinguished Professor at the University of Kansas Medical School. He was born in a small farming community in Iowa and developed an interest in chemistry in high school, which led him to Iowa State University where, in 1969, he received a B.Sc. in organic chemistry. He entered UCLA and received a Ph.D. in biochemistry in 1974. Interested in seeing more of the world, he went to Edinburgh University to pursue postdoctoral studies on bacterial cell division with William Donachie. He followed his studies at Edinburgh with a postdoc at the University of Connecticut Health Science Center before joining the faculty of the University of Kansas Medical Center. He became a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology in 2002.

Lutkenhaus initiated his studies on the genetics of bacterial cell division in the model organism E. coli in Edinburgh, where he discovered several essential cell division genes, including ftsZ. He showed that FtsZ was rate limiting for division and the target of various inhibitors, including SulA, produced following DNA damage; and MinC, a component of the Min oscillatory system that contributes to spatial regulation of division. Along with Erfei Bi, he showed that FtsZ assembled into the cytokinetic Z ring, a cytoskeletal element, which he showed is used for cytokinesis by most prokaryotic cells. This finding led to the realization that bacterial cells, like larger eukaryotic cells, have exquisite internal organization. The Z ring is functionally analogous to the contractile ring used by animal and fungal cells for cytokinesis. Subsequent work showed that FtsZ is the ancestral homologue of eukaryotic tubulin, thus revealing that cytoskeletal proteins had their origin in prokaryotic cells. He continues to study the mechanism and spatial regulation of bacterial cytokinesis.

"Chains, Communities and Going Green" Richard Losick, PhD Maria Moors Cabot Professor of Biology Harvard College Professor Harvard University Professor, Howard Hughes Medical Institute November 20, 2012 Lecture Time: 12 noon Lecture Location: Davis Auditorium (Rm. 412), Schapiro Center (CEPSR) 530 West 120th Street

Richard Losick is the Maria Moors Cabot Professor of Biology, a Harvard College professor, and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professor in the faculty of Arts & Sciences at Harvard University. He received his A.B. in chemistry at Princeton University and his Ph.D. from MIT. He was a junior fellow of the Harvard Society of Fellows. He is a past chairman of the Departments of Cellular and Developmental Biology and Molecular and Cellular Biology. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a member of the American Philosophical Society, a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology. He is a recipient of the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award, the Selman A. Waksman Award of the National Academy of Sciences, and the Canada International Gairdner Award.

"Cell Cycle Regulation in a 3D Grid" Lucy Shapiro, PhD Ludwig Professor of Cancer Research Director of the Beckman Center for Molecular and Genetic Medicine Stanford University School of Medicine November 20, 2012 Lecture Time: 3:30 pm Lecture Location: Alumni Auditorium, First Floor 650 West 168th Street

Lucy Shapiro is a professor in the Department of Developmental Biology at Stanford University School of Medicine, where she holds the Virginia and D. K. Ludwig Chair in Cancer Research and is the director of the Beckman Center for Molecular and Genetic Medicine. She is a member of the board of advisors of The Pasteur Institute and the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, and is a member of the board of directors of Gen-Probe Inc. She founded the anti-infectives discovery company, Anacor Pharmaceuticals, and is a member of the Anacor board of directors. Professor Shapiro has been the recipient of multiple honors, including election to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the U.S. Institute of Medicine, the American Academy of Microbiology, and the American Philosophical Society. She was awarded the FASEB Excellence in Science Award, the Selman Waksman Award from the National Academy of Sciences, the Canadian International Gairdner Award, the John Scott Award jointly with Harley McAdams, and the 2010 Abbott Lifetime Achievement Award.