STEVE FISCH/STANFORD SCHOOL OF MEDICINEThe 2017 Fresenius Research Prize—the most valuable award for scientific achievement—goes to Karl Deisseroth, a Stanford University professor and Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator who helped develop the pioneering techniques of optogenetics and CLARITY tissue clearing. Deisseroth is also known for his research on the underlying neural circuitry of depression.
The award honors an individual scientist every four years by the Else Kroner-Fresenius Foundation in Germany. It comes with a cash value of €4 million ($4.47 million), and 2017 is the second time it’s been handed out. Of the total, €3.5 million will be earmarked for Deisseroth’s lab, while the remaining €500,000 are for his personal use.
While Deisseroth is in Berlin to accept the award and present a talk on his research, he emailed with The Scientist about his career and this latest achievement.
The Scientist: You’re known for so many scientific advances—optogenetics, CLARITY, neural mechanisms of depression—what do you consider your proudest achievement?
Karl Deisseroth: Well, as a psychiatrist it’s humbling to realize how far we have to go still. It’s one thing ...
