The Kavli prize winners

Abstract

The second Kavli prize in neuroscience has been awarded this year to James Rothman, Fergus F. Wallace Professor of Biomedical Sciences and Chairman of the Department of Cell Biology at Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA; Richard Scheller, Executive Vice President of Research and Early Development at the biotechnology company Genentech; and Thomas Südhof, Avram Goldstein Professor and Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator at Stanford University School of Medicine, California, USA. The honour was set up to recognise exceptional scientific advancements and creativity, and has this year been awarded to acknowledge the contribution of the laureates to our understanding of the molecular underpinnings of synaptic transmission, in particular the SNARE hypothesis of vesicle fusion and neurotransmitter release. Claudia Wiedemann interviewed the prize winners about key moments in their scientific careers and their outlook on the future of neuroscience.