Roger Tsien (right), professor of pharmacology, chemistry and biochemistry at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and co-winner of the 2008 Nobel Prize in chemistry, died August 24 at the age of 64. The precise cause of death has not yet been determined, but he was apparently on a bike trail in Eugene, Oregon. Along with Osamu Shimomura and Martin Chalfie, Tsien discovered and developed green fluorescent protein, derived from the jellyfish Aequorea victoria, as a new and soon-indispensable research tool, and earned not just the Nobel Prize but scores of subsequent awards and accolades.

“Every honor was justly deserved, and always received with humility,” said Pradeep Khosla, chancellor of UC San Diego. “Roger was an extraordinary man: kind, generous, gracious, and always the consummate scientist pushing the limits of his work to expand the possibilities of science. He was a rare talent we cannot replace.”

Editas Medicine (Cambridge, MA, USA) has announced the appointment of Charles Albright as CSO. Albright brings over 25 years of life sciences industry and academic leadership experience, most recently serving as vice president of genetically defined diseases and genomics at Bristol-Myers Squibb.

Jeremy Barton has been appointed chief medical officer of eFFECTOR Therapeutics (San Diego). He joins the company from Pfizer, where he served as vice president and head of oncology early development and clinical research, as well as chair of the oncology technical review committee and co-chair of the oncology research strategic review board.

Suzanne Bruhn has been elected to the board of directors of Pliant Therapeutics (Redwood City, CA, USA). She was most recently president and CEO of privately held Promedior, where she negotiated its acquisition by Bristol-Myers Squibb. Prior to Promedior, Bruhn spent 13 years at Shire Human Genetic Therapies, where she held a series of positions of increasing responsibility before serving as senior vice president of strategic planning and program management.

Daiichi Sankyo (Edison, NJ, USA) has named Marielle Cohard-Radice executive vice president, global head of development, with responsibility for the development strategy and portfolio planning for the cardiovascular-metabolism and internal medicine therapeutic areas. She was previously vice president of clinical development operations at Daiichi Sankyo Pharma Development, a position she had held since 2012. Before joining Daiichi Sankyo, she held positions at Aptalis Pharma, Axcan Pharma, Novartis Pharmaceuticals and Schering Plough Research Institute.

Stem cell therapy company Orbsen Therapeutics (Cambridge, MA, USA) has announced the appointment of Larry Couture as CEO. Couture was previously CEO of Arrogene and senior vice president at City of Hope.

Vonnie Estes has joined Caribou Biosciences (Berkeley, CA, USA) as group leader, agricultural and industrial biotech. She was most recently a consultant for global industrial biotech and agriculture companies. Prior to that, Estes was a managing director for Granbio, where she oversaw the company's continued expansion and was responsible for identifying and licensing new technologies, overseeing large capital investments and raising brand awareness.

EuropaBio (Brussels) has announced the appointment of Ronald Jager as director for healthcare biotechnology. Jager joins EuropaBio after over 15 years in the healthcare industry. He previously served as corporate communications manager for Pfizer in the Netherlands and then as an associate director for Pfizer worldwide.

The 2016 Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research has been awarded to William Kaelin of Dana–Farber Cancer Center, Peter Ratcliffe from the University of Oxford and Gregg Semenza at Johns Hopkins University for the discovery of the pathway by which cells from humans and most animals sense and adapt to changes in oxygen availability—a process essential for survival. Additionally, the Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award went to the University of Heidelberg's Ralf Bartenschlager, Rockefeller University's Charles Rice and Michael Sofia, formerly of Pharmasset and now at Arbutus Biopharma for developing a system to study the replication of the virus that causes hepatitis C and for using the system to revolutionize the treatment of this chronic, often lethal disease.

Late-stage clinical biotech Prothena (Dublin) has named Gene G. Kinney COO, a newly created position. Kinney will retain his title and responsibilities as CSO, which he has held since December 2012. Before joining Prothena, he was senior vice president of pharmacological sciences at Elan Pharmaceuticals.

Moderna Therapeutics (Cambridge, MA, USA) has named Melissa J. Moore CSO of its mRNA research platform, with responsibility for leading all mRNA biology research at Moderna. Moore joins the company from the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS), where she is professor of biochemistry and molecular pharmacology, Eleanor Eustis Farrington Chair in Cancer Research and investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. In addition, she was a founding co-director of the RNA Therapeutics Institute at UMMS.

Aduro Biotech (Berkeley, CA, USA) has announced the appointment of Natalie R. Sacks as chief medical officer. Sacks most recently served as an advisor on development strategy for multiple companies. Previously, she was vice president of clinical development at Onyx Pharmaceuticals. She holds an active faculty appointment at the University of California, San Francisco, where she is an assistant clinical professor of medicine in the division of hematology/oncology.

VAXIMM (Basel, Switzerland, and Mannheim, Germany) has announced the appointment of Matthias Schroff as CEO. Schroff has over 15 years of experience in the biotech industry, most recently as CEO of publicly traded Mologen. In addition, Schroff served on the board of directors of the biotech arm of the Association of Research-based Pharmaceutical Companies (vfA bio).