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Home > Prizes > Prize Recipients > Markita del Carpio Landry

Markita del Carpio Landry

2022 Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Biomedical Science

Portrait of Markita del Carpio Landry

Location

Berkeley, CA

Title

Assistant Professor, University of California, Berkeley;
Investigator, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative;
Investigator, Innovative Genomics Institute

Area(s) of Research

Bioengineering, physics, biophysics

Education

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (BA, BS);
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (PhD, Chemical Physics);
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (postdoc)

Country of Birth

Canada

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Links to learn more about Markita del Carpio Landry's work
  • Landry Lab

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bioengineering biomedical science biomolecular biophysics Bolivia Canada nanobiology optical nanomaterials UC Berkeley
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Portrait of Markita del Carpio Landry

Markita del Carpio Landry was born in Quebec, Canada, to a Bolivian mother and French Canadian father. She grew up a dual citizen of Bolivia and Canada, and when she was 14, her family immigrated to the United States. The challenge of being thrust into a new school while learning English bolstered del Carpio Landry’s love of science and mathematics; she said: “The classes made sense independent of language, and set my path as a career scientist.”

del Carpio Landry earned her bachelor’s at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and went on to pursue her PhD at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. A physicist by training, she pursued postdoctoral work in nanotechnology and spectroscopy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to build a comprehensive set of skills which she would go on to apply in her expansive research.

Markita Landry looking at scientific equipment through a lab bench.

In 2016, del Carpio Landry earned a tenure-track appointment at the University of California, Berkeley. Fascinated by the brain, del Carpio Landry’s work centers on understanding aberrations in neurotransmitter signaling—a fundamental component in psychiatric disorders such as depression, and schizophrenia, and neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease. Merging single-molecule biophysics and nanomaterials, del Carpio Landry has developed probes to visualize neurochemical communication at the molecular level; her research has yielded insights into the range of neurotransmitter “communication styles” and their responses to stimuli with implications on the variable effectiveness of psychiatric drugs.

Markita Landry walking and looking at two students.

In the realm of bioengineering, del Carpio Landry has also led work that has elucidated transport phenomena in plants. This discovery enabled the development of new techniques of precise and targeted gene editing without permanent genetic modification. These discoveries have enormous potential for applications in agricultural biotechnology with regard to the development of food and medicine.

A devoted mentor, del Carpio Landry is passionate about empowering the next generation of scientific leaders. “I am motivated by the knowledge that my presence in STEM sets an example for others from immigrant and non-traditional backgrounds,” she says. “While it is rewarding to produce good science, my greatest impact will come from producing great scientists.”

Markita del Carpio Landry smiling, arms folder, in front of a grove of trees.

Awards and Accomplishments

  • Teacher-Scholar Award, Dreyfus Foundation (2021)
  • Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) Award, NSF (2021)
  • Janett Rosenberg Trubatch Career Development Award, Society for Neuroscience (2020)
  • Deep Tissue Imaging Award, Frontiers of Imaging, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (2020)
  • Emerging Leader in Molecular Spectroscopy Award, Spectroscopy (2020)
  • Nanocarbons Division Young Investigator Award, The Electrochemical Society (2020)
  • 100 Most Inspiring Hispanic/Latinx Scientists in America, Cell Press (2020)
  • Young Alumni Award, University of Illinois Alumni Association (2020)
  • Talented 12, Chemical & Engineering News (2019)
  • Kavli Fellow, National Academies of Science (2019)
  • Bakar Fellow, University of California, Berkeley (2019)
  • Prytanean Faculty Enrichment Award, University of California, Berkeley (2019)
  • Young Investigators Award, Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (2018)
  • DARPA Young Faculty Award, University of California, Berkeley (2018–21)
  • Gilliam Fellow, Howard Hughes Medical Institute (2018–20)
  • New Innovator Award, Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (2017–20)
  • Fellow, Innovative Genomics Institute (2017–20)
  • Stanley Fahn Junior Faculty Award, University of California, Berkeley (2017–20)
  • Chan-Zuckerberg Biohub Investigator (2017–22)
  • Young Investigator, Beckman Foundation (2017-2021)
  • Burroughs Wellcome Fund Career Award at the Scientific Interface (2016–21)
  • Young Investigator Award, Brain and Behavior Foundation (NARSAD) (2015–17)
  • Member, Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS)
  • Member, Society for Neuroscience (SfN)
  • Member, American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE)
  • Member, Biophysical Society (BPS)
  • Member, Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE)

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bioengineering biomedical science biomolecular biophysics Bolivia Canada nanobiology optical nanomaterials UC Berkeley

Jury Members

2022 Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Biomedical Science

Heran Darwin

Professor, Department of Microbiology, New York University

Laurie Dempsey

Senior Editor, Nature Immunology, Nature Publishing Group

Yibin Kang

Warner-Lambert/Parke-Davis Professor of Molecular Biology, Princeton University

Harmit S. Malik

Principal Investigator, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center

Luciano A. Marraffini

Kayden Family Professor, The Rockefeller University

Leslie B. Vosshall

Robin Chemers Neustein Professor of Neurogenetics and Behavior, The Rockefeller University

Jedd D. Wolchok

Lloyd J. Old/Virginia and Daniel K. Ludwig Chair in Clinical Investigation, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
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Related Prize Recipients

Polina Anikeeva

Polina Anikeeva receives the Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Biomedical Science for developing novel engineering solutions that have advanced the field of neural engineering and enabled fine-grained analysis of brain function and animal behavior.
Portrait of Polina Anikeeva

Shixin Liu

Shixin Liu receives the Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise for applying cutting-edge biophysical tools to directly visualize, manipulate, and understand the physiological function of nanometer-scale biomolecular machines including DNA replication and transcription complexes at the single-molecule level.
Portrait of Shixin Liu.

Edward Chouchani

Edward Chouchani receives the Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Biomedical Science for his work to decipher the molecular mechanisms that drive metabolic disease, with the aim of developing therapeutic interventions targeted at the molecular drivers of metabolism within cells.
Portrait of Edward Chouchani.

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