David J. Julius, now Professor and Chair of the Dept. of Physiology at UCSF, is the recipient of the $1 million Run Run Shaw Foundation Prize in Life Science and Medicine (see attached press release) for his work identifying the ion channels involved in various aspects of nociception (pain perception).
Julius received his Ph.D. from UC Berkeley in Dec., 1983, where he carried out his doctoral dissertation research in the laboratory of Prof. Jeremy Thorner with joint supervision from Prof. Randy Schekman. The title of his Ph.D. thesis was "Protein processing and secretion in yeast: biosynthesis of alpha-factor mating pheromone." The other members of his Annual Thesis Guidance Committee were Prof. Robert Tjian and now Prof. of the Graduate School Alexander N. Glazer. Current MCB faculty member, Asst. Prof. Diana Bautista, carried our her postdoctoral training in Julius' laboratory.