January 17 17, 2018, New York — Ludwig Cancer Research congratulates Howard Chang on receiving the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) Award in Molecular Biology, which recognizes a recent notable discovery in molecular biology by a young scientist. The award will be presented on April 29, 2018 in Washington, D.C. with a medal and a $25,000 prize.
Chang, recently appointed as a Virginia and D.K. Ludwig Professor of Biochemistry at Stanford University School of Medicine, was honored for his discovery of long noncoding RNAs (lincRNAs) using revolutionary new genomic technologies that he invented. These RNAs are now believed to play a vitally important role in the regulation of chromatin and gene expression in a range of biological processes. Chang and his team continue to explore how cells know where they are and how that information is communicated to the genome to establish and maintain an identity—and the role of lincRNAs in these phenomena.
NAS is a private, non-profit society of distinguished scholars charged with providing independent, objective advice to the nation on matters related to science and technology. NAS today honored a total of 19 individuals for their extraordinary scientific achievements across the fields of physical, biological and medical sciences.