Janelia Senior Group Leader Gerry Rubin and Cori Bargmann of The Rockefeller University have been jointly awarded the 2024 Gruber Neuroscience Prize for their pioneering work in elucidating the organization of neural circuits in behavior and developing new genetic tools to advance the field of neuroscience.

The Gruber Neuroscience Prize, established in 2004, honors scientists for major discoveries that have advanced the understanding of the nervous system. The prize is part of the Gruber International Prize Program, hosted by the Gruber Foundation, which honors individuals in the fields of Cosmology, Genetics and Neuroscience, whose groundbreaking work provides new models that inspire and enable fundamental shifts in knowledge and culture.

Rubin is being recognized for his role in developing numerous tools and resources that have advanced neuroscience research using the fruit fly Drosophila. These include developing methods for genetically modifying flies, leading the effort to sequence the Drosophila genome, and undertaking the massive venture of mapping the fly brain to identify the constituent neurons and their connections to each other, all of which have enriched the field in invaluable ways, according to the Gruber Foundation.

Bargmann, who is an HHMI Investigator Emerita, is being recognized for her role in linking genetics with behavior, which includes identifying the first odorant receptor, and linking this receptor to a specific innate behavior. These early discoveries were then followed up with experiments looking at the link between environmental cues, genetic variation, and flexible behaviors that have provided insights into the genetic basis of behavior, according to the Gruber Foundation. 

Rubin and Bargmann will receive their award October 6 at the Annual Meeting for the Society for Neuroscience in Chicago.

Rubin served as Janelia’s executive director from its founding in 2003 to 2020. He held faculty positions at Harvard Medical School and the Carnegie Institution of Washington before moving to the University of California, Berkeley, in 1983 to assume the John D. MacArthur Professorship. He was appointed an HHMI investigator in 1987. He moved to HHMI headquarters in 2000 as a vice president and assumed overall planning responsibility for Janelia in 2002.

Rubin is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Medicine, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the European Molecular Biology Organization, and a Foreign Member of the Royal Society (London). He has received numerous awards, including the American Chemical Society Eli Lilly Award in Biological Chemistry, the National Academy of Sciences U.S. Steel Foundation Award in Molecular Biology, and the Genetics Society of America Medal.

Watch a recording of a special seminar Rubin gave to the Janelia community earlier this year reflecting on his 50 years in science.