Jeffrey I. Gordon, MD, of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has received the 2024 Mechthild Esser Nemmers Prize in Medical Science from Northwestern University. Gordon was selected for the prize by a jury of distinguished U.S. scientists for transforming the understanding of human health and how it is shaped by the gut microbiome.
Given every two years, the Nemmers Prize in Medical Science recognizes physician-scientists whose body of research represents outstanding achievements in biomedical science and has shown lasting significance. The prize in medical science is one of five Nemmers Prizes; the other four prizes recognize contributions in earth sciences, economics, mathematics and music.
As part of the award, Gordon will deliver a lecture Sept. 30 at Northwestern University, in Evanston, Ill.
The Dr. Robert Glaser Distinguished University Professor and director of the Edison Family Center for Genome Sciences & Systems Biology at Washington University School of Medicine, Gordon has spent his entire career at Washington University.
He is widely considered the father of the field of gut microbiome research. His work has greatly advanced understanding of human health and physiology, including how it is shaped by the gut microbiome and how noncommunicable diseases have previously unappreciated microbiome origins.
“I’m extremely grateful for this honor — specifically for the recognition that it gives to the efforts of the extraordinarily talented and creative people I have been fortunate enough to work with and learn from over the course of my career,” Gordon said. “It is also a wonderful recognition of the field itself and an endorsement of the potential it offers to develop new ways to support human wellness.”