Erwin Neher, director of the Neher Neural Plasticity Nobel Prize Laboratory at the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology (SIAT) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, gives a speech during an academic meeting at the institute. Courtesy of SIAT
German biophysicist Erwin Neher, a Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine and director of the Neher Neural Plasticity Nobel Prize Laboratory at the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology (SIAT) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, recently received the 2024 Chinese Government Friendship Award.
Established in 2019 and funded by the Shenzhen Municipal Science and Technology Innovation Bureau, the Neher Neural Plasticity Nobel Prize Laboratory focuses on advancing research in neural plasticity, neurological diseases, and drug targets. Its mission is to decipher the mysteries of the brain, discover the mechanisms behind brain diseases, and promote the development of the biopharmaceutical and health industries.
Under Neher's leadership, the lab has assembled an international team of top-notch neuroscience researchers, leading to a string of groundbreaking discoveries. Their research findings have graced the pages of prestigious academic journals such as Nature, Science, Cell, and Neuron, according to a release on SIAT's official WeChat account.
A pioneer in biomedicine, Neher shared the 1991 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with German cell physiologist Bert Sakmann for their discovery of the functions of single ion channels in cells. Not only has their research helped elucidate the causes of heart disease, diabetes, and epilepsy, but it has also had a revolutionary impact on neuroscience and cell biology.
Neher, who also leads a biophysics laboratory named in his honor at the Macao University of Science and Technology, has been active in promoting the development of brain science in China. His efforts have helped attract a number of outstanding brain scientists to work in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and fostered cooperation with world-class scientific research institutions.
The Chinese Government Friendship Award is the highest honor given to foreign experts who have made outstanding contributions to China's modernization drive. Since being established in 1991, nearly 2,000 foreign experts have received the award.
In addition to Neher, SIAT boasts a roster of exceptional scientists who have also been honored with the award, including Horst Arthur Vogel in 2020, John Roger Speakman in 2021, and Diana Boraschi in 2022.