so we're very happy to welcome you to Columbia University to celebrate our
newest Nobel prize-winner newest Nobel laureate professor Joachim Frank
professor of biochemistry and molecular physics and biological sciences
our congratulations first and foremost to Professor Frank who shares this prize
with Richard Henderson of the MRC laboratory of molecular biology in
Cambridge England and Jacques de vache of the University of Lausanne in
Switzerland I'd also like to acknowledge Joachim's wife Carol Saginaw in the
front Lee Goldman executive vice president and Dean of the faculties of
Health Sciences and medicine at Columbia University Medical Center whom I'll turn
this over to in a moment John cotesworth the Provost of the
University Richard Axl University professor at
Columbia and also a Nobel laureate and Martin Martin Chalfie 2008 laureate Tom
maniatis who leads the precision medicine initiative and also was the
chair of biochemistry laying Tom chair of the Department of Biological Sciences
and all of you from the Columbia University Medical Center and the
Department of Biological Sciences in Morningside who are here to celebrate
this moment from his lab in the black building at the Columbia University
Medical Center professor Frank was previously the winner of the 2017 Wylie
prize and the 2014 Franklin medal for the methods he devised to turn images
taken by electron microscopes of thousands of individual molecules at
different angles into a finely detailed three-dimensional representation allows
all of proteins protein molecules of life to be seen
this is the extraordinary work that has been recognized by the Nobel Committee
professor Frank joins more than 80 past and present Columbia faculty members and
alumni over the years who have been awarded Nobel prizes in a wide variety
of disciplines from neuroscience to economics this year's prize is a
testament to the excellence of our biomedical research which brings
together faculty members from across both these Medical Center uptown and
Morningside Heights but today is professor Frank's day and we are proud
to have him as our newest Columbia Nobel laureate and let me just say personally
this is the kind of work that usually dates back many many years and even
decades and so it's in truth something that we share with many institutions in
the world of basic research and this is something that we take as an affirmation
of what it is we do in academic work in fundamental research a person who lives
by a desire to understand something better in the world is driven to do that
and sort of selflessly pursues that to the point where new knowledge has
developed that has a profound effect on humanity so we take pride because this
is a symbol of what we do not always as well as these individuals by any means
but we strive for that so professor Frank congratulations to you on this
very special day now
and now word from League Golden League
well I'd like to reaffirm what president Bollinger has said also congratulate
Carol but as you said this is yokum's day it's really extraordinary and very
special he will probably tell you that at 5:18 when he was more or less
awakened he wasn't necessarily sure whether it was the Nobel Prize Committee
calling or the dog simply blocking to be walked but fortunately it was the former
as well as the latter dr. Frank has really been a pioneer in the development
of car electron microscopy as you heard a technique that provides imaging at a
level that previously was not possible
but what's really remarkable out him is this combination of being a developer of
a new method that allows for pictures and measurements that previously were
impossible but also the extraordinarily innovative application of that method
initially to the ribosome which is the cells factory and groundbreaking work
describing how the ribosome works at a level that previously was not possible
papers in nature for example showing how the ribosome works in the parasite that
causes African sleeping sickness and leading to ideas about how that disease
could be potentially treated most recently has worked with other
colleagues that the Medical Center is focused on ion
channels the little holes in the membrane through which ions traverse and
send the signals and make the cells communicate and work together again
groundbreaking work dr. Franck was born in Germany during World War two received
his undergraduate degree in the University of Freiburg but a fair amount
of time at Munich did some work at Berkeley and came to the US about 30
years ago to join the wads or and all bein as he said people have
often contributed at multiple institutions we were very fortunate to
recruit Yakima here in 2008 a primary appointment on biochemistry the
secondary appointment of biological sciences and is from his lab in the
black building and in collaboration with the New York structural biology Center
he's continued to his groundbreaking work been supported by the Howard Hughes
Medical Institute by the National Students of Health and also by a
philanthropist including lynn shostack whose gift of the cryo and electron
microscope has really helped us move this program forward dr. Frank has been
a member of all the right societies but in reality today's award takes
precedence over all of that I want to thank dr. Frank's colleagues and
biochemistry who helped us recruit him here who have helped him with his
research but again become what you've done is truly extraordinary Columbia
club University Medical Center are proud of you we look forward not only to
honoring your past work but also knowing there's great work ahead important
questions to be answered and this is not quite the beginning but we know there'll
be a number of extraordinary accomplishments and discoveries in your
future so may have everyone at Columbia club University Medical Center
congratulations
well then this is an extraordinary day for me
very touching a humbling experience because I know that so many new things
are discovered all the time and it's sort of an the shots are very did the
odds are very long to to get me to this place and he just really I'm supposed to
be brief in my remarks on only one to say that I wouldn't be here without the
incredible support by very gifted students that I had the privilege to
have with me and be able to train the postdocs and students research
associates who all contributed pieces of this you know immense puzzle and so I
really like to express my appreciation to to Carol my wife for the long and
patient indulgence for for my absences you know mental absences which now you
know how they have been spent and I'd like to also since as tink Altman was
mentioning much of the time here in America was spent at what's--what Center
what's--what Center was a very nurturing environment and for quite some time I
was able to develop these his methods but I'd like to say that the move to
Colombia was he was very instrumental in me able to reach out and develop
contacts and friendships with colleagues over departments across departments and
I was a also able to draw from brilliant students that I was able to recruit here
and all together they moved to Colombia was he wasn't was a milestone for me and
I'm very grateful to my colleagues faculty colleagues to the Dean and
president for making all this possible and we are we add in in an important
transition because many people want to capitalize on this on this new
technology and so the support for an instrumentation Center and cry and
facility is is extremely important to make the dreams of many of the people
here come true and there has been a wonderful support and there were
generous gifts that that have made possible the acquisition of new
instrumentation so thanks very much all around
well very confusing experiment experience you know because we mentioned
this this dog we've been anxious every morning because it's been waking up
earlier and earlier and and and today oh I I was I was sure it's gotta be walking
up by the dog but instead the this phone call arrived and then when the phone
when the phone rang I wanted to actually be sure that Carol didn't dismiss it as
a crank call because I knew the sensitivity of the date and so sure
enough there wasn't a Swedish accent and then everything that followed so it was
amazing and all I could say over and over again this this is wonderful news I
didn't know and anything else to say to these people in in Sweden and they kept
apologizing for waking me up so early