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After learning early Monday that he had won the Nobel Prize in medicine, Stanford scientist Karl Deisseroth spent hours answering congratulatory calls and speaking with journalists. Then he asked for a break to make school lunches for his children, according to the Associated Press.
Deisseroth, 54, shared the prize with German researchers Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel for work in optogenetics, which uses light and genes to switch neurons on and off in living brains.
A self-described night owl, Deisseroth is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator and professor at Stanford University. He said he had just gone to lie down after reviewing papers and emailing students when the call came from the Nobel Assembly in Stockholm.
“I almost felt as if I’d lost the power of forming words,” he told the AP, adding that he recovered after a minute or two. “No real sleep was achieved,” he said about an hour after the announcement.
His wife, Michelle Monje-Deisseroth, a Stanford pediatric neuro-oncologist, was with him as he took calls from the family’s home in Stanford. While Deisseroth said he was surprised by the award, he told the AP that his wife was not.
Deisseroth said the research offers hope for patients, including those with autism and depression, while also helping scientists understand how the brain works.
As interviews wrapped up, he told Stanford staff he needed an hourlong break starting at 6:30 a.m. so he could prepare lunches before his children left for school.
His wife dismissed concerns that the late-night activity might bother neighbors, saying they live in faculty housing and that there are many Nobel laureates in the neighborhood.
