Pierre Chambon (born 7 February 1931 in Mulhouse, France) was the founder of the in Strasbourg, France. He was one of the leading molecular biologists who utilized gene cloning and sequencing technology to first decipher the structure of eukaryotic genes and their modes of regulation. His major contributions to science include the identification of RNA polymerase II(B), the identification of transcriptional control elements, the cloning and dissection of nuclear hormone receptors, revealing their structure and showing how they contribute to human physiology. His group was also one of the first to demonstrate, biochemically and electron-microscopically, that the nucleosome is the smallest unit of chromatin (Cell, Vol. 4, 281–300, 1975). He accomplished much of his work in the 1970-90s. Chambon was elected a Foreign Associate of the US National Academy of Sciences and to the French Académie des Sciences in 1985, a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1987. He was awarded the Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize from Columbia University in 1999 and a second time in 2018. In 2003 he was awarded the March of Dimes Prize in Developmental Biology. He received the Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research in 2004 for his work in the field. In 2010, Chambon was awarded the Gairdner Foundation International Award "for the elucidation of fundamental mechanisms of transcription in animal cells and to the discovery of the nuclear receptor superfamily". In 2018 he received the Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize for a second time. Notes References External links The Official Site of Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize ISI Highly Cited page Living people 1931 births Academic staff of the Collège de France Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences Members of the French Academy of Sciences Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences French molecular biologists French geneticists French endocrinologists French people of Jewish descent Scientists from Mulhouse University of Strasbourg alumni Recipients of the Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research Fellows of the AACR Academy Commandeurs of the Légion d'honneur Grand Officers of the Ordre national du Mérite Richard-Lounsbery Award laureates