This biographical article is written like a résumé. (November 2024) |
Joanne Chory | |
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Born | 1955 Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
Died | (aged 69) La Jolla, California, U.S. |
Nationality | American |
Alma mater | Oberlin College (BS, Biology) University of Illinois,Urbana–Champaign (PhD, Microbiology) |
Known for | Plant hormone biology, retrograde signaling, photobiology |
Awards | Genetics Society of America Medal (2012) Kumho Award in Plant Molecular Biology (2004) Scientific American 50: Research Leader in Agriculture (2003) L'Oreal-UNESCO Award for Women in Science (2000) American Society of Plant Biologists, Charles Albert Schull Award (1995) Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences (2018) Gruber Prize in Genetics (2018) Princess of Asturias Award (2019) Benjamin Franklin Medal (2024) Wolf Prize in Agriculture (2024) |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Plant Biology |
Institutions | Salk Institute for Biological Studies |
Doctoral advisor | Samuel Kaplan |
Website | http://www.salk.edu/faculty/chory.html |
Joanne Chory (1955 – November 12, 2024) was an American plant biologist and geneticist. Chory was a professor and director of the Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology Laboratory, at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.[1]
Chory was the founding director of the Salk Institute’s Harnessing Plants Initiative (HPI),[2] an innovative carbon dioxide removal approach to fight climate change by optimizing a plant’s natural ability to capture and store carbon dioxide and adapt to different climate conditions. Chory and the HPI team aims to help plants grow bigger and stronger root systems that can absorb larger amounts of carbon by burying it in the ground in the form of suberin, a naturally occurring substance.[3][4]
Considered the most influential plant biologist of the modern era and one of the greatest scientific innovators of our time, Chory's 30 years of work has pioneered the use of molecular genetics to study how plants change their shape and size to optimize photosynthesis and growth for different environments.[5][3][6]
Chory was elected as a foreign member of the Royal Society in 2011 and is the recipient of the 2018 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences and the 2019 Prince of Asturias Award for Technical and Scientific Research.[7] She holds the Howard H. and Maryam R. Newman Chair in Plant Biology. She is also an adjunct professor in the Section of Cell and Developmental Biology, UC San Diego.[8] Chory and her HPI team received a $35 million award in support of the initiative from the TED Audacious Project in 2019 and another $30 million from the Bezos Earth Fund in 2020.[9][10]