News Release
Scientist at The Scripps Research Institute Named One of World's Top 100 Young Innovators by Magazine at MIT
La Jolla, CA. May 22, 2002 - Benjamin F. Cravatt, Ph.D., a scientist at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), has been selected as one of the top 100 innovators under the age of 35 in a special report just released by Technology Review, the world's oldest technology magazine.
Cravatt, associate professor in the departments of Cell Biology and Chemistry, and investigator with The Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology, was recognized for his development of tools to further explore the roles of enzymes in humans and animals. More specifically, Cravatt's design and utilization of chemical probes to gauge enzyme activity in cancerous cells represents an advance in the global analysis of protein structure and function.
The Technology Review report, titled the "TR100," describes the young innovators from around the world as "visitors from the future, living among us here and now," whose innovations "will have a deep impact on how we live, work and think in the century to come." The report notes that Cravatt's technology can be used to improve medical diagnostics, identify new drug targets and facilitate drug tests.
Hailing from 9 different countries, nominees were chosen by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) magazine for their contributions in transforming the nature of technology in industries such as biotechnology, computing, energy, medicine, manufacturing, nanotechnology, telecommunications and transportation.
"Whether for business growth and opportunity, or strides in the fields of health and medicine, innovation continues to be a key cornerstone in identifying the developments of tomorrow," said Robert Buderi, editor of Technology Review.
The TR100, which took over a year to complete, is the second such a list compiled by the MIT magazine of innovation.
Judges for the TR100 nomination and selection process include: Dr. David Baltimore, President, California Institute of Technology; Alfred Berkeley III, Vice Chairman, NASDAQ; Richard Demillo, Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Hewlett-Packard; Dr. Philippe Janson, Vice President, IBM Academy of Technology; Dr. Robert M. Metcalfe, Venture Partner, Polaris Venture Partners; Dr. Cherry A. Murray, Senior Vice President of Physical Science Research, Bell Labs/Lucent Technologies; Nicholas Negroponte, Director, MIT Media Laboratory; and Dr. Judith Rodin, President, University of Pennsylvania.
Cravatt, who received B.S. and B.A. degrees from Stanford University, and a Ph.D. from The Scripps Research Institute, will be publicly honored on May 23, 2002 along with the 99 others who make up the 2002 TR100. Included in the celebration is an all-day conference and symposium at Kresge Auditorium on the MIT campus, followed by an awards ceremony and dinner.
The complete TR100 list appears in the June 2002 issue of Technology Review, currently available at www.technologyreview.com and on newsstands May 28, 2002.
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