David Jay Julius (born November 4, 1955) is an American

physiologist Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a subdiscipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out chemical and ...

and

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...

laureate known for his work on molecular mechanisms of

pain Pain is a distressing feeling often caused by intense or damaging Stimulus (physiology), stimuli. The International Association for the Study of Pain defines pain as "an unpleasant sense, sensory and emotional experience associated with, or res ...

sensation and heat, including the characterization of the

TRPV1 The transient receptor potential cation channel subfamily V member 1 (TRPV1), also known as the capsaicin receptor and the vanilloid receptor 1, is a protein that, in humans, is encoded by the ''TRPV1'' gene. It was the first isolated member of ...

and

TRPM8 Transient receptor potential cation channel subfamily M (melastatin) member 8 (TRPM8), also known as the cold and menthol receptor 1 (CMR1), is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''TRPM8'' gene. The TRPM8 channel is the primary molecular ...

receptors that detect

capsaicin Capsaicin (8-methyl-''N''-vanillyl-6-nonenamide) (, rarely ) is an active component of chili peppers, which are plants belonging to the genus ''Capsicum''. It is a potent Irritation, irritant for Mammal, mammals, including humans, and produces ...

menthol Menthol is an organic compound, specifically a Monoterpene, monoterpenoid, that occurs naturally in the oils of several plants in the Mentha, mint family, such as Mentha arvensis, corn mint and peppermint. It is a white or clear waxy crystallin ...

, and temperature. He is a professor at the

University of California, San Francisco The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Francisco, California, United States. It is part of the University of California system and is dedic ...

. Julius won the 2010 Shaw Prize in

Life Science Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, organisation, metabolism, growth, adaptation, respon ...

and

Medicine Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...

and the 2020 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences. In 2020 he was awarded The Kavli Prize, and in 2021 the

Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine () is awarded yearly by the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute for outstanding discoveries in physiology or medicine. The Nobel Prize is not a single prize, but five separate prizes that, acco ...

jointly with Ardem Patapoutian.

Early life and education

Julius was born to an

Ashkenazi Jewish Ashkenazi Jews ( ; also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim) form a distinct subgroup of the Jewish diaspora, that Ethnogenesis, emerged in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium Common era, CE. They traditionally spe ...

family (from Russia) in

Brighton Beach Brighton Beach is a List of Brooklyn neighborhoods, neighborhood in the southern portion of the New York City Borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn, within the greater Coney Island area along the Atlantic Ocean coastline. Brighton Beach ...

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, New York City, where he attended Abraham Lincoln High School. He earned his undergraduate degree from

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

in 1977. He attained his doctorate from

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

in 1984, under joint supervision of Jeremy Thorner and

Randy Schekman Randy Wayne Schekman (born December 30, 1948) is an American cell biologist at the University of California, Berkeley, former editor-in-chief of ''Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences'' and former editor of '' Annual Review of Cell an ...

, where he identified

Kex2 Kexin () is a prohormone-processing protease, specifically a yeast serine peptidase, found in the budding yeast ('' S. cerevisiae''). It catalyzes the cleavage of -Lys-Arg- and -Arg-Arg- bonds to process yeast alpha-factor pheromone and killer ...

as the founding member of furin-like

proprotein convertase Proprotein convertases (PPCs) are a family of proteins that activate other proteins. Many proteins are inactive when they are first synthesized, because they contain chains of amino acids that block their activity. Proprotein convertases remove tho ...

s. In 1989, he completed his post-doctoral training with

Richard Axel Richard Axel (born July 2, 1946) is an American molecular biologist and university professor in the Department of Neuroscience at Columbia University and investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. His work on the olfactory system won h ...

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

where he cloned and characterized the serotonin 1c receptor. While at Berkeley and Columbia, Julius became interested in how

psilocybin mushroom Psilocybin mushrooms, or psilocybin-containing mushrooms, commonly known as magic mushrooms or as shrooms, are a type of hallucinogenic mushroom and a polyphyletic informal group of fungi that contain the prodrug psilocybin, which turns into t ...

s and

lysergic acid diethylamide Lysergic acid diethylamide, commonly known as LSD (from German ; often referred to as acid or lucy), is a Semisynthesis, semisynthetic, Hallucinogen, hallucinogenic compound derived from ergot, known for its powerful psychological effects and ...

work, which led him to look more broadly into how things from nature interact with human receptors.

Research career

22 Hegasy EN Nobel Prize 2021 TRPV1 Piezo2

He started his career as faculty at the

in 1989. In 1997, Julius's lab cloned and characterized

which is the receptor that detects

, the chemical in

chili pepper Chili peppers, also spelled chile or chilli ( ), are varieties of fruit#Berries, berry-fruit plants from the genus ''Capsicum'', which are members of the nightshade family Solanaceae, cultivated for their pungency. They are used as a spice to ...

s that makes them "hot". They found that

also detects noxious heat (

thermoception In physiology, thermoception or thermoreception is the sensation and perception of temperature, or more accurately, temperature differences inferred from heat flux. It deals with a series of events and processes required for an organism to recei ...

). TRPV1 is part of a large family of structurally related TRP (transient receptor potential) cation channels. Animals that lack TRPV1 (using genetic knockouts of the protein) lose sensitivity to noxious heat and capsaicin. Julius's lab has also cloned and characterized

(CMR1) and

TRPA1 Transient receptor potential cation channel, subfamily A, member 1, also known as transient receptor potential ankyrin 1, TRPA1, or The Mustard and Wasabi Receptor, is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''TRPA1'' (and in mice and rats by ...

, both members of the TRP superfamily. They demonstrated that TRPM8 detects

and cooler temperatures and

detects

mustard oil Mustard oil can mean either the pressed oil used for cooking or a pungent essential oil, also known as volatile oil, of the mustard plant. The essential oil results from grinding mustard seed, mixing the grounds with water, and isolating the resu ...

(allyl isothiocyanate). These observations suggested that TRP channels detect a range of temperatures and chemicals. David Julius's lab has also made contributions to the study of

nociception In physiology, nociception , also nocioception; ) is the Somatosensory system, sensory nervous system's process of encoding Noxious stimulus, noxious stimuli. It deals with a series of events and processes required for an organism to receive a pai ...

by discovering toxins that modulate these channels, describing unique adaptations of the channels in diverse species and solving the

cryo-EM Cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM) is a transmission electron microscopy technique applied to samples cooled to cryogenic temperatures. For biological specimens, the structure is preserved by embedding in an environment of vitreous ice. An ...

structures of numerous channels. Julius’ laboratory also made pioneering contributions to the discovery of purinergic receptors, both the P2Y class of

G protein-coupled receptors G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), also known as seven-(pass)-transmembrane domain receptors, 7TM receptors, heptahelical receptors, serpentine receptors, and G protein-linked receptors (GPLR), form a large protein family, group of evoluti ...

, and the P2X class of ligand-gated ion channels. This included the cloning of

P2Y12 P2Y12 is a chemoreceptor for adenosine diphosphate (ADP) that belongs to the Gi class of a group of G protein-coupled (GPCR) purinergic receptors. This P2Y receptor family has several receptor subtypes with different pharmacological selec ...

, the receptor for

clopidogrel Clopidogrel, sold under the brand name Plavix among others, is an antiplatelet drug, antiplatelet medication used to reduce the risk of Cardiovascular disease, heart disease and stroke in those at high risk. It is also used together with aspi ...

and related antiplatelet medications that are widely used to reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke. The group also cloned the 5HT3 receptor, a

serotonin Serotonin (), also known as 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), is a monoamine neurotransmitter with a wide range of functions in both the central nervous system (CNS) and also peripheral tissues. It is involved in mood, cognition, reward, learning, ...

-activated ion channel and the target for drugs such as ondansentron for the treatment of nausea and vomiting. Dr_David_Julius_by_christopher_michel_in_2022_08

Dr_David_Julius_by_christopher_michel_in_2022_08

From 2007–2020 Julius served as the editor of the peer-reviewed journal the ''

Annual Review of Physiology The ''Annual Review of Physiology'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal that publishes review articles about physiology. First published in 1939 through a collaboration between the American Physiological Society and Annual Reviews (publisher), Ann ...

''.

Awards

In 2000, Julius was awarded the inaugural Perl-UNC Neuroscience Prize for his work on cloning the capsaicin receptor. In 2006, he was honored be The International Prize for Translational Neuroscience of the

Max Planck Society The Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science (; abbreviated MPG) is a formally independent non-governmental and non-profit association of German research institutes. Founded in 1911 as the Kaiser Wilhelm Society, it was renamed to the M ...

. In 2007, Julius received the W. Alden Spencer Award by the College of Physicians and Surgeons, the Department of Neuroscience, and The Kavli Institute for Brain Science at

, and the Julius Axelrod Prize of the

Society for Neuroscience The Society for Neuroscience (SfN) is a professional society, headquartered in Washington, D.C., for basic scientists and physicians around the world whose research is focused on the study of the brain and nervous system. It is especially well k ...

. In 2008, he held th
Jack Cooper Lecture
at Yale School of Medicine. In 2010, he won the Shaw Prize for his work identifying the

ion channel Ion channels are pore-forming membrane proteins that allow ions to pass through the channel pore. Their functions include establishing a resting membrane potential, shaping action potentials and other electrical signals by Gating (electrophysiol ...

s involved in various aspects of

. He received the Passano Award in the same year. In 2014, he was honored by

Johnson & Johnson Johnson & Johnson (J&J) is an American multinational pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical technologies corporation headquartered in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Its common stock is a c ...

with the Dr. Paul Janssen Award for Biomedical Research for discovering the molecular basis for pain and thermosensation. In 2017, he won the Gairdner Foundation International Award and the HFSP Nakasone Award. He has also been awarded the 2010 Prince of Asturias Prize for Technical and Scientific Research, the 2020 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences, and the 2020

Kavli Prize The Kavli Prize was established in 2005 as a joint venture of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research, and the Kavli Foundation (United States), Kavli Foundation. It honors, supports, and r ...

in Neuroscience (together with Ardem Patapoutian) and the 2020 BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award. In 2021, he was awarded the

in Physiology or Medicine jointly with Ardem Patapoutian for their discoveries of receptors for temperature and touch. In 2022, Julius was awarded the UCSF Medal by the

. In 2023, he received the John J. Bonica Award, by the American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine (ASRA). In 2025, Julius was awarded a Honorary Membership in the Society of Toxicology.

References

External links

Website at UCSFUCSF Profiles - David Julius
{{DEFAULTSORT:Julius, David 1955 births Abraham Lincoln High School (Brooklyn) alumni American people of Russian-Jewish descent American physiologists Annual Reviews (publisher) editors Jewish American scientists Kavli Prize laureates in Neuroscience Living people Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Nobel laureates in Physiology or Medicine Scientists from New York City University of California, Berkeley alumni Columbia University staff University of California, San Francisco faculty Members of the National Academy of Medicine

Early life and education

Research career

Awards

See also

References

External links