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UT Southwestern Adds Another Nobel Notch To Its Belt

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We’re deep into Nobel Prize season, and a brain researcher with North Texas roots is celebrating.

Dr. Thomas C. Südhof is one of three scientists who shared the Nobel for Physiology or Medicine on Monday. The Stanford professor did his prize-winning research — on “synaptic transmission,” or how brain cells communicate with chemical signals — during his 25 years at UT Southwestern in Dallas.

Dr. Thomas C. Südhof was chairman for the neuroscience department at UT Southwestern.
Credit UT Southwestern

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  “I’m absolutely surprised,” Südhof, 57, told the Stanford Report, which reached him in the remote town of Baeza, Spain, where he was lecturing at a conference. “Every scientist dreams of this. I didn’t realize there was chance I would be awarded the prize. I am stunned and really happy to share the prize with James Rothman [of Yale] and Randy Schekman [of California-Berkeley].”

While in Dallas, Südhof worked under two previous Nobel winners, Michael Brown and Joseph Goldstein. In fact, he’s UT Southwestern’s seventh winner — six professors and one graduate student.

Südhof left for Stanford in 2008, but he’s still an adjunct professor of neuroscience at UT Southwestern.

Rick Holter was KERA's vice president of news. He oversaw news coverage on all of KERA's platforms – radio, digital and television. Under his leadership, KERA News earned more than 200 local, regional and national awards, including the station's first two national Edward R. Murrow Awards. He and the KERA News staff were also part of NPR's Ebola-coverage team that won a George Foster Peabody Award, broadcasting's highest honor.