Share this story

TIME100 Health recognizes UMass Chan Nobel laureate Victor Ambros

Photo of Victor Ambros
Victor Ambros speaking at a press conference following the announcement of his receipt of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
Photo: Faith Ninivaggi

Nobel laureate Victor R. Ambros, PhD, has been named to the 2025 TIME100 Health list in recognition of his contributions to global health along with his longtime collaborator Gary B. Ruvkun, PhD, of Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

The full list and related tributes appear in the May 26, 2025, issue of TIME, available on newsstands Friday, May 16, and now at time.com/time100health.

Dr. Ambros, the Silverman Chair in Natural Sciences and professor of molecular medicine, was awarded the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his co-discovery of microRNA. He shares the honor with Ruvkun. Their research uncovered short, single-stranded RNA molecules now understood to play a critical role in post-transcriptional gene regulation.

Ambros is UMass Chan’s second Nobel laureate. Distinguished Professor Craig C. Mello, PhD, was co-recipient of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his co-discovery of RNA interference or RNAi.

A special, online-only edition of the @umasschan magazine celebrates Ambros and his wife and scientific collaborator, Rosalind “Candy” Lee, who was the first author on the seminal 1993 Cell paper cited by the Nobel Committee at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden on Oct. 7, 2024.