RNA scientist wins 2013 Alice C. Evans Award

DARMSTADT, Germany -- Merck Millipore, the Life Science division of Merck, announced that Joan Steitz, Ph.D., Professor, Yale University, has won the 2013 Merck Millipore Alice C. Evans Award for Leadership in Clinical Microbiology. The award was established by the American Society of Microbiology (ASM) Committee on the Status of Women in Microbiology and given in honor of Alice C. Evans, the first woman elected ASM President, in 1928. The award recognizes individuals who have made significant contributions toward the advancement of women in microbiology. 

"Merck Millipore is proud to sponsor the prestigious Alice C. Evans award," said Dr. Roland Heinrich, head of BioMonitoring at Merck Millipore. "We would like to congratulate Dr Steitz and recognise her passionate efforts to support women in the scientific community; she is a most deserving recipient of the 2013 award."

2013 Alice C. Evans award recipient, Joan Steitz, Ph.D. of Yale University, with Fran Hutson, Director of North American Sales and Marketing, Merck Millipore.

The award was presented May 19 to Dr Steitz by Dr. Jeffrey Miller, ASM president at the annual meeting of the American Society for Microbiology.

"I am greatly honoured to receive this award.  There are so many deserving women in the field of microbiology who have worked hard to increase the representation of women in science," said Dr Steitz. "When I started my career, I almost didn't continue because I had never seen a female lab director or professor.  In the end, my fascination with RNA triumphed, and I am grateful that I have been able to work on problems that interest me.  In the last decade, starting with my participation in a report issued by the National Academy of Sciences, I have contributed to the dialogue on causes and solutions for the underrepresentation of women in science.  Progress is clear and women in science have come a long way, but we have further to go.  Awareness of human responses like implicit bias is the first step; I believe that we need to understand the problem before we can solve it."

One of the leading scientists in her field, Dr. Steitz is best known for her pioneering work in RNA. Along with her colleagues, Dr. Steitz discovered and defined the function of small ribonucleoproteins (snRNPs) in pre-messenger RNA-the earliest product of DNA transcription-and was the first to learn that these cellular complexes (snRNPs) play a key role in processing messenger RNA by excising noncodingFootwear