Scientist to receive alumni award for his achievements

Posted: August 14, 2012 9:00 a.m.

Nevan Krogan, systems biologist and professor, University of California. Photo: Marco Sanchez, University of California - San Francisco: Documents, Media and Mail.

For research scientist Nevan Krogan, it is still the moment of discovery that gives him the most satisfaction.

"Seeing potentially unanticipated connections, making discoveries and getting so excited about them, seeing things no one has seen before — for me, those are the things that are most satisfying," Krogan says.

A contagious enthusiasm for research was something his teachers and colleagues remember about him when he was a student at the University of Regina (Campion College), where he earned a Bachelor of Science in biochemistry in 1997 and a Master of Science in biology in 1999. He went on to study at the University of Toronto and graduated with a PhD in medical genetics in 2005.

Today, he is an internationally recognized systems biologist and a professor in the Department of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology at the University of California in San Francisco as well as an investigator at the J. David Gladstone Institutes, with many discoveries and a long list of awards, presentations and publications in prestigious journals to his credit.
 
Looking back, Krogan said his studies at the University of Regina prepared him well for a future in research. In particular, he says, he benefitted from getting a lot of hours in the laboratory at a young age and from his close association with chemistry professor Andrew Wee, biochemistry professor Rod Kelln and other faculty members.

Krogan is the 2012 recipient of the Alumni Award for Distinguished Professional Achievement, which recognizes an alumnus who has achieved professional excellence and demonstrated leadership in his or her pursuit of success.

He says receiving the alumni award means a lot to him. He regards it not only as recognition of what he has been able to accomplish but also as a testament to the quality of education the University of Regina provides to students.

"I'm very proud of where I came from, and I think it had a lot to do with where I am right now," he says. "I know this award is to honour me, but I see it as more honouring the University of Regina and what it is capable of doing. And it shows other students that they can get a solid foundation at the U of R and then pretty much do whatever they want in the future."

Krogan will be one of five distinguished alumni recognized at the eighth Annual Alumni Crowning Achievement Awards Gala on September 27.

To purchase tickets and for more information visit: www.uregina.ca/alumni/acaa-event or call 1-877-779-4723.