Dr. Aaron Ciechanover, recipient of the 2004 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, gave a lecture at the Nagoya Congress Center on Saturday, January 27, 2024. The lecture was organized by the Nagoya University Institute of Advanced Research in cooperation with the International Peace Foundation BRIDGES, which is holding a series of events in Asia as part of its JAPAN-ASEAN series.
Dr. Ciechanover is a biomedical pioneer who shared the 2004 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Avram Hershko and Irwin Rose for the discovery of ubiquitin-mediated protein degradation, the process by which cells of living organisms remove unwanted proteins. He is Distinguished Research Professor and Director of the Integrated Cancer Center at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology.
The event was attended by Nagoya University faculty and students, as well as members of the public, who filled the Shirotori Hall of the Nagoya Congress Center. After an introduction by Nagoya University President Naoshi Sugiyama, Dr. Ciechanover spoke to the attendees on the potential revolutionary impact of genetically targeted personalized medicine and the technical and ethical challenges associated with its implementation. Following the lecture, Dr. Ciechanover and 2001 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, Nagoya University Distinguished Professor Ryoji Noyori, answered questions from Nagoya University researchers, high school students and members of the audience. Both Dr Ciechanover and Dr Noyori stressed the importance of surrounding oneself with diverse influences and working together in building a successful research career. "When it starts working together, a group becomes a team," said Dr Noyori in answer to one question. "When you work as a team you can really achieve something."
