It’s not often that the general public sits up and takes notice of the transformative research, and the people behind it, that impacts our daily lives. Fortunately, the annual announcement of the Nobel Prize Winners allows us to recognize and reflect on a few of the significant contributions of scientists and scholars. This year’s announcements were no exception and we’re proud to have Wiley authors among the winners.

The Nobel Prize in Physics

This year’s prize winners in Physics have discovered new ways to use lasers as tools- leading to applications such as the manipulation of viruses and bacteria and lasik eye surgery. The prize was jointly awarded to Arthur Ashkin (Bell Laboratories) "for the optical tweezers and their application to biological systems," as well as Gérard Mourou (University of Michigan) and Donna Strickland (University of Waterloo) "for their method of generating high-intensity, ultra-short optical pulses." Dr. Ashkin has contributed to several Wiley journals, including Laser & Photonics Reviews and Berichte der Bunsengesellschaft für physikalische Chemie. Dr. Mourou has published in Physica Status Solidi (a) and Optik & Photonik.

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

Immunotherapy has been a game changer in the realm of cancer treatment, resulting in a new class of drugs and new hope for patients with limited options. The two winners of this year’s Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine have been recognized for their “discovery of cancer therapy by inhibition of negative immune regulation." Both of the Nobel laureates have contributed articles to journals published by Wiley, including the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, British Journal of Haematology, Cancer, EMBO Reports, European Journal of Immunology, FEBS Letters, International Journal of Cancer, Immunological Reviews, and The EMBO Journal. Most recently, Dr. Allison contributed to the chapter “Cancer Immunotherapy” in the reference work Holland-Frei Cancer Medicine, and Dr. Honjo published “Combination therapy strategies for improving PD‐1 blockade efficacy: a new era in cancer immunotherapy” in the Journal of Internal Medicine.

The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel

This year’s prize winners in Economics were chosen in part to signify how critical it is for governments to work together to solve global challenges.  Joint prize winner William Nordhaus of Yale University was awarded for his work demonstrating that levying taxes on carbon emissions can help to address climate change, while the work of fellow winner Paul M. Romer of New York University shows how government policy impacts technological innovation. Dr. Nordhaus’s research has been published in a host of Wiley journals, including The Economic Journal, Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, Journal of Public Economic Theory, The Review of Income and Wealth, South African Journal of Economics, American Journal of Economics and Sociology, and New Directions for Higher Education.Dr. Romer was elected as a Fellow of the Econometric Society in 1990, and his work has appeared in Econometrica.

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2018

Three scientists were awarded the chemistry prize for their work using evolutionary biology to design molecules, which led to the developments of new drugs and plant-derived fuel sources.  Frances H. Arnold (California Institute of Technology) won "for the directed evolution of enzymes,” and  George P. Smith (University of Missouri) and Sir Gregory P. Winter (MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology) "for the phage display of peptides and antibodies." Dr. Arnold is a member of the Editorial Boards of Angewandte Chemie and ChemBioChem published by Wiley-VCH on behalf of the German Chemical Society (GDCh) and ChemPubSoc Europe, respectively. In addition, she has published in the Annals of the NY Academy of Science, Biotechnology & Bioengineering, Current Protocols in Protein Science, Advanced Synthesis & Catalysis, Israel Journal of Chemistry, Protein Science, Chemistry—A European Journal, Molecular Systems Biology, and Biotechnology Progress. She contributed to books: Directed Evolution of Proteins (2002), Enzyme Catalysis in Organic Chemistry (2008), Protein Engineering Handbook (2011), and Artificial Metalloenzymes and MetalloDNAzymes in Catalysis (2018). Dr. Winter has published in Angewandte Chemie (1984, 1999), ChemMedChem (2012, cover), Journal of Molecular Recognition, FEBS Letters and Journal, European Journal of Immunology, International Journal of Cancer, andAnnals of the NY Academy of Science.

The Nobel Peace Prize

Though not through research, Nobel Peace Prize winners Denis Wukege and Nadia Murad are working to make the world a better place. Awarded for “their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict,” Wukege is a physician who has spent his life defending and advocating for victims of sexual violence in The Republic of Congo while Nadia Murad has been an outspoken activist for victims of sexual violence in Iraq. Congratulations to both winners for their brave advocacy work.

Congratulations to all the winners and thanks to the Nobel committee for reminding us of the outstanding impact research and advocacy can have on the world.

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