The National Academy of Sciences awarded Joseph Mougous, PhD, the NAS Award in Molecular Biology. The award was presented with a $25,000 prize.
Mougous transformed the fields of microbiology and host-microbe interactions through his groundbreaking discovery that bacterial type VI secretion systems deliver potent antimicrobial toxins between bacterial cells and are a crucial driver of interbacterial competition and the shaping of microbial communities. He also discovered unique toxins of potential utility in basic research, as antimicrobials and of use in genome editing.