Jeremy Nathans

Jeremy Nathans is a Professor of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Neuroscience, and Ophthalmology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. His research focuses on molecular mechanisms of visual system development, function, and disease. Nathans is responsible for landmark discoveries that have changed our understanding of how humans see the world. His investigations into the mechanisms that allow us to see colors led him to identify the genes that code for color-vision receptors in the light-sensing cones of the retina. This breakthrough finding allowed him to show that variations in these genes cause color blindness. His work has also led to new understandings of the development, function and survival of the retina. His current research utilizes molecular genetic approaches to study the development of the mammalian retina and embryo. The twin goals of this work are to understand the molecular and cellular mechanisms of pattern formation during development and the molecular and cellular basis of human disease. His work has been recognized with numerous awards for research and teaching, including the Passano Foundation Young Scientist Award, the Rank Prize, the Wilson S. Stone Memorial Award, the Golden Brain Award, the Alcon Research Institute Award, the Cogan Award, the American Medical Student Association Golden Apple Award for Teaching, the Johns Hopkins Medical School Professor's Award for Distinction in Teaching, the Champalimaud Award, the Edward M. Scolnick Prize and the 2024 World Laureate Association Prize. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a member of the Institute of Medicine and the National Academy of Sciences in addition to his American Academy of Arts and Sciences membership. His articles appear in Nature, Nature Genetics, and Neuron.