UC Davis graduate wins Nobel Prize for medicine – KCRA Sacramento

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THEIR DISCOVERY OF THE HEPATITIS C VIRUS. >> THE NOBEL ASSEMBLY AT THE INSTITUTE HAS TODAY DECIDED TO AWARD THE 2020 NOBEL PRIZE IN MEDICINE JOINTLY TO HARVEY J ALTER, MICHAEL HOLDREN, AND CHARLES FOR THEIR DISCOVERY OF HEPATITIS C VIRUS. LISA: CHARLES RICE RECEIVING ONE OF THE WORLD’S TOP AWARDS. >> THIS IS REALLY A GLOBAL SCIENTIFIC EFFORT THAT HAS SORT OF LEAD TO WHERE WE ARE TODAY. BRIAN: — — HE WAS AMONG THREE LISA: HE WAS AMONG THREE SCIENTISTS WHO WON THE NOBEL PRIZE FOR THEIR WORK WITH HEPATITIS C. AN ANNOUNCEMENT RICE WAS NOT EXPECTING. >> INITIALLY, I WAS IRRITATED THAT SOMEBODY WOULD BE CALLING AT 4:30 IN THE MORNING AND I FIGURED IT WAS, YOU KNOW, EITHER A CRANK PHONE CALL — LISA: A CALL HE DID NOT PICK UP. HE WENT BACK TO BED. >> IT RANG AGAIN AND I FUMBLED AROUND AND PUSHED THE BUTTON ON THE PHONE THAT MADE THE CONNECTION. AND THERE WAS THIS VOICE WITH A SWEDISH ACCENT ON THE PHONE AND I WAS PUTTING MUCH CONVINCED THIS WAS DEFINITELY A CRANK PHONE CALL. LISA: BUT IT WAS NOT. >> WHEN HE MENTIONED MY FRIENDS AND COLLEAGUES WERE ALSO BEING RECOGNIZED WITH THIS PRIZE, IT STARTED TO SINK IN THAT THIS MIGHT ACTUALLY BE REAL. >> COULD NOT HAVE BEEN GIVEN TO A MORE DESERVING PERSON. HE REMEMBERS HIS TIME HERE EXTREMELY FONDLY. >> HE WORKED AT THE ROCKEFELLER UNIVERSITY IN NEW YORK. >> I SPENT A VERY SHORT TIME IN HIS LAB. WE KEPT IN TOUCH AND HE HAS BEEN SUPER SUPPORTIVE OVER THE YEARS OF MY CAREER. >> IS NOW AN ASSISTANT PROFESSOR IN THE DEPARTMENT OF MOLECULAR AND CELLULAR BIOLOGY. >> HE WROTE A LETTER FOR ME TO GET A POSITION HERE AND WHEN I TOLD HIM I WAS HIRED HERE, HE WAS THRILLED BECAUSE IT IS HIS ALMA MATER AND HE WAS REALLY EXCITED TO HAVE SOMEBODY FROM HIS LAB COMING BACK HERE. LISA: SHOWING GROUNDBREAKING RESEARCH. >> HE WAS DISCOVERING THE VIRUS, PROVING THE VIRUS, CAUSES OF THE DISEASE OF HEPATITIS C, AND THEN CURING IT TO THE POINT WHERE HIS WORK HAS IMPACTED TENS OF MILLIONS OF PEOPLE WORLDWIDE. IN SOME CASES, SAVING THEIR LIVES. >> AND BRINGING INTO THE SPOTLIGHT A NORTHERN CALIFORNIA UNIVERSITY. >> I THINK IT IS IMPORTANT FOR THE CURRENT UNDERGRADUATES TO UNDERSTAND THAT, YOU KNOW, THE RESEARCH EXPERIENCE THAT YOU CAN GET AS AN UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT AT UC DAVIS, AND WE ARE A MAJOR RESEARCH UNIVERSITY, CAN LEAD TO CAREERS AND OPPORTUNITIES IN ACADEMIC RESEARCH THAT CAN LEAD