Ardem Patapoutian is interested in the ion channels and other cellular sensors that translate mechanical stimuli to chemical signals. These sensors are the basis of how we sense touch, pain, sound, and blood flow. Piezo cation channels discovered by Patapoutian and his team are expressed in mechanosensitive cell types, such as red blood cells and vascular endothelial cells, as well as in touch and proprioceptive neurons. The team aims to determine the roles of Piezos in these various scenarios and to find new sensors of mechanical force.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced today that HHMI Investigator Carolyn Bertozzi of Stanford University, Morten Meldal of University of Copenhagen, and K. Barry Sharpless of Scripps Research Institute are the recipients of the 2022 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the development of click chemistry and bioorthogonal chemistry. The Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute announced today that HHMI Trustee David Julius of the University of California, San Francisco, and HHMI Investigator Ardem Patapoutian of Scripps Research are the recipients of the 2021 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their discoveries of receptors for temperature and touch. Thirteen HHMI scientists have been elected to the National Academy of Sciences.  Eight HHMI scientists are among 391 new Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.