A Duke University faculty member has won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Doctor Robert Lefkowicz is a researcher and faculty member at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at Duke University Medical Center.
The Nobel Committee made the announcement earlier this morning. Lefkowicz said on the phone during the announcement that the middle-of-the-night call was unexpected.
Dr. Robert Lefkowicz: And so my wife gave me an elbow. Call for you. And there it was, a total shock and surprise.
Lefkowicz shares the award with Brian Kobilka from Stanford University. Together, the two men work in the field of G-protein coupled cell receptors. Half of all drugs target these receptors.
The two Nobel winners also will share the $1.2 million that come with the award.