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Nancy Hopkins, PhD, Receives STAT Biomedical Innovation Award

January 31, 2022

February 2022


Nancy Hopkins, PhD
Photo by Leonard Greco

Nancy Hopkins, PhD, Amgen professor of biology emerita at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), received STAT’s 2021 Biomedical Inno­va­tion Award for her significant work in molecular biology and her advocacy for gender equity in science.

Dr. Hopkins’ gender equity work began in the mid-1990s when she realized that after 20 years at MIT, she was still one of a handful of women faculty in science, and that there were no women heading an MIT science department, center, or lab, and there were no women administrators in science or engineering. With this epiphany, she began studying gender equity at her institution.

She started by surveying female colleagues about their experiences and then chaired a committee that produced landmark reports that highlighted gender-based discrimination, structural sexism, and pay disparities across MIT departments. These reports led to a focus on gender equity at MIT, where administrators worked to make improvements. The reports generated media attention and led to other institutions also making changes to improve gender equity. 

Dr. Hopkins also went on to cofound the Boston Biotech Working Group to foster women faculty as founders and board members of biotechnology companies.

In addition to her gender equity work, Dr. Hopkins has done significant work in genetics research. Her work to identify RNA tumor virus genes helped elucidate how they are correlated to cancer severity, and she was one of the first scientists to use zebrafish as a model to understand how genetic mutations contribute to the development of diseases such as cancer.

The STAT Biomedical Innovation Award, now in its third year, honors biology and medicine researchers whose work has helped define their field. Dr. Hopkins is the second woman to receive the award.

Source: STAT News, November 16, 2021.

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