Henderson Prize

Lawrence J. Henderson Prize

The Henderson Prize honors the work of Professor Henderson (1878-1942), who began teaching at Harvard in 1905 and is best known for his research on blood biochemistry. The prize consists of a $500 book award, a framed certificate, and a copy of Dr. Henderson's book, "Fitness of the Environment." Each year a committee of the Board of Tutors in Biochemical Sciences reviews all theses that have been evaluated as outstanding (A) by both thesis readers.  One (and occasionally two) students are awarded the Henderson Prize annually. 

Henderson Prize Recipients:

2017 Henry Cousins
A Wnt-Dependent Model of Synaptic Organization in the Outer Retina
2016 Philip Cody He
Elucidating Mechanisms of Histone Methylation with a RNA Polymerase-Tethered Histone Lysine Methyltransferase
2015 Alexandra Rojek
A Regulatory Model of Heat Shock by Protein Assembly
2014 Ian Boothby
Structural Patterns of Synaptic Competition in the Motor Neuron Circuit
2013 James Meixiong
The critical role of host lipid metabolism in determining the infectivity of Hepatitis C virus
2012 Stephanie Lin
Integration of the ER and oxidative stress responses through SKN-1
2012 Priscilla Wang
Netrin-1 Promotes Glioblastoma Invasion and Angiogenesis Through a Cathepsin B-Dependent Mechanism
2011 Siyuan (John) Liu and Yunsoo Kim
John’s thesis title is “Single Cell Temporal Dynamics and Spatial Reorganization of Oct4 in Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells Reveal Differential Activation of the Pluripotency Circuit During Cell Fate Selection”
Yunsoo’s thesis title is “A conserved cytoplasmic tyrosine kinase functions in the transport of silencing RNA between C. elegans cells”
2010 Daniel Bear and Laura Huppert
Dan’s thesis title is “Genome-wide and Single-cell Analysis of Neuronal Activity-regulated Gene Expression”
Laura’s thesis title is “Localization, Regulation, and Function of a First Type VII Protein Secretion System in Bacillus subtilis”
2009 Kaloyan Tsanov 
An Embryonic Stem Cell Based System for Rapid Analysis of Developmentally Regulated Enhancer Elements
2008 Katie Rose Clapham 
A Tiny Protein Links Two Morphogenetic Processes in a Bacterium
2007 Alisa Anne Mueller 
I. Structural and Mechanistic Studies of TadA, an Adenosine Deaminase that Acts on tRNA
II. Structural and Biochemical Analysis of the C-terminal Domain of UvrC, a DNA Damage Repair Enzyme
2006 Milena Maria Andzelm 
The Role of Myosin II in Natural Killer Cell Effector Function   
2006 Shelly SeungAh Choo 
Structural and Biochemical Studies of the N-Terminal Region of the Temperature-Sensing TRPV Ion Channels 
2005 Sarah J. Hill 
Characterization of a Novel Chromodomain Protein
2004 Rozalina Grubina 
The Development of DNA-Templated Synthesis for the Creation and Discovery of Synthetic Small Molecules
2003 John Christian Huetsch 
Crystal Structure of the DNA-wrapping Domain of DNA Gyrase A from Escherichia coli
2002 Narie J. Yoo 
The Identification of Genes Involved in the Development of Streptomyces coelicolor.
2001 Jeffrey Lu 
Characterization of Deletions Created by the Hybrid Mobile Element P {why}to Study Gene Function in Drosophilia Melanogaster.
2000  Ryan Edward Dorris 
Tumor Cell Lines Resistant to Caspase-Mediated Apoptosis Are Sensitive to CTL Attack, Granzyme Loading, and UV Irradiation.
2000  James L. Young 
The Serpin PI-9 is an Endogenous Inhibitor of Interleukin-1b-Converting Enzyme (Caspase-1) Activity in Human Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells.
1999  Timothy Yu-Ting Tseng 
Biochemical Characterization of the Salmonella typhimurium Phage SP6 DNA Primase
1998  Aurelio A. Teleman 
Studies on the Segregation and Architecture of the Bacterial Chromosome.
1997  Joshua Shulman 
A Genetic Analysis of Drosophila Dishevelled Reveals Distinct Roles in Planar Polarity Specificati and Wingless Signal Transduction.
1996  Jeffrey Tong 
Catalytic Mechanism of Fpg.
1995  Carl Aschkenasi 
Isolation and Characterization of Six Drosophila Lines Mutant in the formation of the Retinotopic Map.
1995  Oliver Rando 
Elucidation of the Mechanism of Activation of Nf- B: the Proteasome is Required for Processing of the 105Kd Nf- B1 Precursor and Degradation of I- B.
1994  Rojat Rohatgi 
Non-emzymatic Template-directed Ligation Reactions of Ribo-oligonucleotides.
1993  Dan Barouch 
Role of the Minor Coat Protein Vp3 in the Structural Organization of the Polyomavirus Capsid.
1993  Bernard Chang 
The Functional Significance of the Cd4-T Cell Receptor Interaction.
1992  Andre Cheng 
Does Haploinsufficiency of the Drosophila Ribosomal Protein Gene Rps4 Result in the Minute Phenotype?
1992  Ted Mau 
Structure and Dynamics in Protein-dna Interaction: A Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Study of Gal4.
1991 Kathleen D. Liu
Structure Function Relationships of Triosephosphate Isomerase.
1990  Jayaraj Rajagopal 
The Structure and Enzymatic Activity of the Tetrahymena Ribozyme.
1989  Paul A. Monach
Identification of a Putative Regulatory Gene for Defense Against Oxidative Damage in Escherichia Coli.
1988  Lucy Ann Godley 
The Mutagenesis, Expression, and Characterization of Two Hemagglutinin Mutants.
1988  theodore S. Steiner 
Voltage Clamp Studies of the Excitatory Response To Capsaicin in Pain Neurons.
1987   Calvin J. Kuo 
Purification, Characterization and Modes of Activation of A Putative Growth- and Transformation-sensitive Ribosomal Protein S6 Kinase.
1986  Julie Nardone 
Characterization of a Bradykinin Receptor by Binding of 3H-bradykinin.
1985 Seung K. Kim 
Pp4 Virl Master Copy: A Novel Mechanism for Plasmid Establishment and Maintenance.
1984   Calvin Ho
Point Mutations in a Aminoterminal Fragment of Alanine Transfer Rna Synthetase Which Elevate Activity.
1984  Peter Sorger 
The Self-assembly of Turnip Crinkle Virus, an Icosaherdral Rna Virus.
1983  Charles Cassidy 
Modulatory Role for the Cholinergic Amacrine: Two Types of Acetylcholine Release in the Rabbit Retina.
1983  Albert C. Shaw
Sequence Dependence of the Helical Repeat of Dna in Solution.
1982  Judith Bender
Physical and Functional Properties of Brain Adenylate Cylase Catalytic Component.
1981  Se-Jin Lee
Altered Patterns of Gene Expression by Satellite P4 Mutants Unable to Regulate their P2 Helper.
1981  Juliann M. Paolicchi 
Characterization of an Induction Sensitive Mutation in Bacteriophage Lambda.
1980 Christopher A. Kaiser
The Role of Lambda Dna Replication in the Transposition of Tn5.
1979  Thanh Van Huynh 
A Walk Along the Bacillus Subtilis Chromosome in a Region Containing Developmentally-controlled Genes.
1979  Seth Jay Orlow 
The Extracellular Cyclic Amp Phosphodiesterase of Dictyostelium Discoideum and its Interaction with its Inhibitor.
1978  Charles L. Diana 
Studies on A Multigenomic Bacteriophage.
1978  Marcia M. Moore 
An Investigation of the Metabolism of Tyrosine and Tyramine in the Central Nervous System of the Moth Manduca Sexta.
1977 David M. Shore
Head Size Determination of Icosahedral Viruses, the Isolation and Characterization of Satellite Bacteriophage P4 Mutant Affected in Head Size Determination.
1976  Dorothy Jessel 
Studies on the Dna Binding of Sv40 T Antigen.
1975  Nicholas Cataldo 
Studies on the Mechanism of Action of a Phospodiesterase.
1975  Stephen Rayport 
Frog Skin Photoreceptors.
1974  Daniel Podolsky
Concanavalin A Agglutination.
Honorable Mention: Donald Kennerly 
Idiotypic Analysis of Antibodies Present During the 37 Week Immune Response of a Single Rabbit.
1973  Perrin Charles 
Molecular Mechanism of Nonspecific Permeation Through Lipid Membranes.
Honorable Mention: Jane Robin Parnes 
Energy Coupling in the B-methylgalactoside Transport System of Escherichia Coli.
1971  Heng Soon Tan 
Studies in the Binding of Neurophysin to Vasopressin.

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