Wabash Valley native honored for pioneering research

A Paris, Illinois, native has received big-time recognition for his pioneering research in genetics.

Stephen J. Elledge, a geneticist now based at Harvard Medical School, earlier this month received a “Breakthrough Prize” for his work in life sciences during a ceremony in Silicon Valley; the honor carried an award of $3 million. 

Now in its fifth year, the program recognizes the world’s top scientists in life sciences, physics and mathematics. 

Founders of the program include Sergey Brin [co-founder of Google], Yuri Milner [Digital Sky Technologies, now DST Global] and Mark Zuckerberg [Facebook]. A combined total of $25 million was awarded during a star-studded gala Dec. 4 at the NASA Ames Research Center

The event was televised on the National Geographic channel and hosted by actor Morgan Freeman. Alicia Keys performed.

Elledge and his colleagues have mapped the entire DNA damage response pathway, which has contributed greatly to the understanding of various diseases, including cancer, according to Discover Magazine. The award recognized his work on how cells sense DNA damage and initiate self-repair. That research also has provided insights into the development and treatment of cancer.

He told Discover, “DNA has self-awareness. It can detect information about its integrity to make sure everything is intact and functional. When there’s a problem, it sends out signals, like calling an ambulance, and then decides what the problem is, and which proteins are needed to fix it.”

His efforts — working with a team of researchers — also have lead to new technology tools, such as a new blood test capable of detecting almost every virus an individual has been exposed to.

Elledge, a 1974 graduate of Paris High School, is a Gregor Mendel professor of genetics at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. The 60-year-old is married and has two children.

In a telephone interview this week, he said “it’s always great to get recognition,” but emphasizes it’s also recognition of all the people that work in the lab he oversees. “I don’t do experiments myself anymore” and he hasn’t since the early 1990s, he said. 

Also important is the recognition the award gives to science and those employed in science fields “who are trying to make the world a better place and trying to improve people’s health.” 

There often is pressure to cut budgets and lower taxes, but cutting spending on such research means advancements in science and improvements in people’s health “will be fewer and more far between.” 

As scientists conduct their research and make discoveries, they typically don’t immediately realize the significance of their discoveries, he said. “There is a lot of luck in how important your discovery will be.”

With his own work, “It’s not like I had a brilliant insight and I saw it unfold at the beginning,” he said. “It snowballs after awhile and a lot of it is out of your control.” Other research labs have taken that research [DNA damage response pathway] and made further advancements. “The field is huge,” he said.

Elledge, who grew up in Paris, said he periodically returns home and did so two or three years ago. He has a sister who lives there and he still has friends there. 

Once he went to college at the University of Illinois, his time spent in his hometown grew less and less. 

He has fond memories of Paris, where he attended St. Mary’s Grade School, Mayo Middle School and then Paris High School. 

“Paris is your typical small town. There’s not a lot to do. We drove around and around and around and looked for friends, ate pizza, went to the bowling alley and to the park.” He and friends played basketball around town.

Terre Haute was the “big city. That was always an exciting trip,” he said.

He credits a friend of his, Paris attorney Bruce Baber, for encouraging him in science and math, which helped him advance. “He took me under his wing and helped me,” he said.

As a child, he was hooked on chemistry, strengthened when his grandmother bought him a chemistry set. He thought chemistry was his chosen career. But, according to Discover, “Something happened along the way, causing him to cast those plans aside. He fell in love with DNA.”

Elledge majored in chemistry at the University of Illinois and was more interested in theory than application. Toward the end of his undergraduate program, he took some biochemistry classes and became fascinated by recombinant DNA — prior to that, he had no interest in biology.

“I wanted to learn more about recombinant DNA,” he said. So he decided to study molecular biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

It was while he was doing postdoctoral work at Stanford University in the late 1980s that he and adviser Ron Davis made an accidental discovery — working with yeast cells, which have similarities to human cells, they noticed that levels of a certain enzyme spiked when yeast DNA was damaged or failed to copy itself properly, according to Discover.

That ultimately lead to years of research in which Elledge and colleagues mapped the DNA damage response pathway in humans. The original finding with the yeast cells “was completely a fluke ... almost a mistake,” he said.

Currently, he oversees a lab funded by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, which pays his salary and provides money to run the lab. The lab has received funding from other sources, including National Institutes of Health and other sources. Typically he oversees about 25 people in the Elledge Lab.

The funding through the Howard Hughes Medical Institute enables him and many other biological scientists throughout the country to follow their interests and “be bold in our research,” he said.

 As far as the $3 million prize, he’s given about half to the Boston Foundation, and funds will be distributed to various charitable causes. He would like for it to go toward education and social causes, including those that benefit underprivileged children and improve communities.

As far as what he’ll do with the remainder, at least part will go for a new iPad, he said. “I have an old iPad. It’s no good.”

During the Dec. 4 gala awards program, he met Mark Zuckerberg, who presented him with his award. He sat at a table with Zuckerberg, Larry Page (co-founder of Google) and Yuri Milner. Also at the table was entertainer will.i.am.

Sue Loughlin can be reached at 812-231-4235 or at sue.loughlin@tribstar.com Follow Sue on Twitter @TribStarSue.