NYU Langone’s Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology hosts the Ochoa Lecture Series, named for Severo Ochoa, MD, an illustrious member of NYU Grossman School of Medicine’s research community for more than 30 years. Originally from Spain, he moved to Washington University in St. Louis in 1940 to work with Carl Cori, MD, and Gerty Cori, MD.

In 1942, he came to NYU as a research associate in medicine and established one of the leading enzymology laboratories in the world. Dr. Ochoa was appointed professor and chair of the Department of Pharmacology in 1946. In 1954, he became the chair of the Department of Chemistry, renamed Biochemistry.

Dr. Ochoa’s research focused on enzymatic processes in biological oxidation and synthesis and the transfer of energy. His work on oxidative phosphorylation was one of his greatest contributions to the understanding of RNA synthesis and the genetic code.

In 1959, Dr. Ochoa was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine, along with his former postdoctoral fellow Arthur Kornberg, MD, for their work on the synthesis of RNA.

In honor and recognition of Dr. Ochoa’s achievements, the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology established a lectureship series in his name.

Previous Ochoa Lectures

2022

“Molecular Mechanisms in the Regulation of the Gene Silencer PRC2”
Eva Nogales, PhD
Professor, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley
Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute

2019

William G. Kaelin Jr., MD
Harvard Medical School
Professor, Department of Medicine; and Associate Director, Basic Science, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

2017

“Chemical Tricks for Drugging the Undruggable”
Kevan Shokat, PhD
UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center
Professor and Chair, Department of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology, University of California, San Francisco
Professor, Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley
Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute

2015

“Novel Mechanism of Action (nMoA) Compounds in Therapeutics Discovery”
Stuart Schreiber, PhD
Morris Loeb Professor
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Broad Institute of Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology

2013

“Post-Translational Modifications in Cell Regulation”
Tony Hunter, PhD
American Cancer Society Professor
Molecular and Cellular Biology Laboratory
Director, Salk Institute Cancer Center
Renato Dulbecco Chair, Salk Institute for Biological Studies

2007

“The Winding Path from Phage to Prion”
Charles Weissmann, MD, PhD
Professor and Chair, Department of Infectology
The Scripps Research Institute, Florida