Leslie B. Vosshall won Pitt Medicine’s prestigious Dickson Prize

Leslie B. Vosshall (pictured), vice president and chief scientific officer of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Robin Chemers Neustein Professor at The Rockefeller University, is the recipient of the 2024 Dickson Prize in Medicine, the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine’s highest honor.

The prize is given annually to an American biomedical researcher who has made significant, progressive contributions to medicine. The award consists of a specially commissioned medal, a $50,000 honorarium and an invitation to present a lecture at the University of Pittsburgh.

“Dr. Vosshall’s pioneering work is advancing the scientific understanding of mosquitoes, which are considered the world’s deadliest animal because of the diseases they spread,” said Anantha Shekhar, Pitt’s senior vice chancellor for the health sciences and John and Gertrude Petersen Dean of the School of Medicine. “Her work has catalyzed investigations throughout the world and embodies the attributes of creativity, tenacity, intuition and scientific rigor that we seek to honor with the Dickson Prize.”

Vosshall, a molecular neurobiologist, has pioneered the study of the mosquito Aedes aegypti, which transmits pathogens causing human diseases, including dengue, Zika, chikungunya and yellow fever. These mosquitoes have evolved an intense attraction to human body odor, body heat and carbon dioxide — the gas exhaled in human breath — and serve as deadly vectors of infectious disease.

Vosshall’s Laboratory of Neurogenetics and Behavior was the first to use CRISPR-Cas9 genome-editing in this species and led the effort to resequence, reassemble and reannotate the genome of this deadly vector mosquito. The work has shed light on how these mosquitoes integrate sensory cues to hunt humans and is catalyzing investigations throughout the world.

Her lecture, titled “The Unbreakable Attraction of Mosquitoes to Humans,” will be given in the West Wing Auditorium of Alan Magee Scaife Hall at 2:30 p.m. Sept. 27.

The post-lecture panel, featuring Pitt professors working in complementary areas, includes Claire Cheetham, assistant professor of neurobiology; Nathan Clark, associate professor of biological sciences; Sarah E. Ross, associate professor of neurobiology, anesthesiology and perioperative medicine; and William R. Stauffer, assistant professor of neurobiology.

A reception will follow at 5 p.m. Attend virtually or in person.

Photography courtesy of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.