Susan Gasser has won the 2012 Women in Science Award, bestowed by the Federation of European Biochemical Societies and the European Molecular Biology Organization.

Since December 2004, Gasser has been director of the Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research in Basel and professor of molecular biology at Basel University.

The FEBS/EMBO Women in Science Award rewards the exceptional achievements of a female researcher in molecular biology over the previous five years. Winners of the award are role models who inspire future generations of women in science.

The Swiss scientist has authored more than 200 scientific articles and reviews over the last 30 years. The implications of her research are far-reaching for human disease, notably cancer, the prize givers said.

Gasser studied biology at the University of Chicago and completed her PhD at Basel University.

Between 1986 and 2001, she led a research group at the Swiss Institute for Experimental Cancer Research in Epalinges, Switzerland, before becoming a professor at the department of molecular biology at Geneva University.

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