Dr. Paul Hardin, Professor in the UH Department of Biology and Biochemistry, will receive the Aschoff-Honma Prize for 2003 at a ceremony to be held on September 8 in Sapporo, Japan. This international prize is given every other year to a young scientist who has made groundbreaking contributions in biological rhythms research. It is considered the top individual honor given to scientists working in biological rhythms research. Dr. Hardin will receive an award of ¥1,000,000 (approximately $10,000 US), and will give a special plenary lecture at the Sapporo Symposium on Biological Rhythms in Japan.

Dr. Hardin received this prize for his research on the molecular mechanisms that underlie circadian oscillators in animals. Circadian oscillators are biological clocks that control daily rhythms in behavior, physiology and biochemistry observed in most animals. They are also found in humans, where they control sleep-wake cycles, cognitive performance, as well as the daily cycles of many hormones. Circadian oscillators are important in medicine because they regulate the response to a number of drugs, including cancer chemotherapeutic agents. Circadian oscillators also interact with disease processes, including certain kinds of debilitating depressive disorders.

Dr. Hardin discovered that circadian oscillators are generated by a molecular feedback loop that controls the expression of specific genes. Dr. Hardin has elucidated many of the relationships between these genes, as well as the role of circadian oscillators in different tissues within an organism. One of Dr. Hardin’s most recent contributions is the discovery that circadian oscillators can produce profound effects on the performance of animal sensory systems.

Dr. Hardin, who was trained as a molecular geneticist, joined the UH faculty in 1995. Before that, he was an Assistant Professor at Texas A&M University. Dr. Hardin is also the recipient of the 2003 UH Sigma Xi Faculty Research Achievement award. He currently is Principal Investigator or co-Investigator on three different grants from the National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation that bring more than $2.4 million to the UH to support his research. He is part of the UH Biological Clocks Program, a group of five professors in the Department of Biology and Biochemistry that is one of the world’s leading centers for biological rhythms research.

Click to view the official University of Houston Press Release regarding Dr. Hardin's award