Peter Walter

{{Short description|German-American molecular biologist and biochemist}}

{{for|the English MP|Peter Walter (politician)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2022}}

{{Use American English|date=August 2023}}

{{Infobox scientist

| name = Peter Walter

| image = Peter Walter (1954-) - from Flicker 2194972175.jpg

| image_size =

| caption = Walter in 2021

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1954|12|5}}

| birth_place = West Berlin

| death_date =

| death_place =

| residence =

| citizenship =

| nationality =

| field = Molecular biology
Biochemistry

| workplaces = Rockefeller University
University of California, San Francisco
Howard Hughes Medical Institute

| education = Free University of Berlin (Vordiplom)
Vanderbilt University (MS)
Rockefeller University (PhD){{cite web |title=PETER WALTER Ph.D. |url=https://medschool.vanderbilt.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/31/public_files/2016_Symposium/CVs/PWalter_CV_09112015.pdf |publisher=Vanderbilt University School of Medicine |access-date=August 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230828075613/https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:qzheqwP_q4cJ:https://medschool.vanderbilt.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/31/public_files/2016_Symposium/CVs/PWalter_CV_09112015.pdf&cd=10&hl=zh-TW&ct=clnk&gl=hk |archive-date=August 28, 2023}}

| doctoral_advisor = Günter Blobel

| doctoral_students =

| known_for = Signal recognition particle
Unfolded protein response

| thesis_title = Purification and characterization of an 11S protein complex required for the translocation of secretory proteins across the membrane of the endoplasmic reticulum

| thesis_year = 1981

| thesis_url = https://rockefeller-primo.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/ji7ros/01RU_ALMA2121803780004157

| influences =

| influenced =

| prizes = Eli Lilly Award in Biological Chemistry
Wiley Prize in Biomedical Science
Gairdner Foundation International Award
E.B. Wilson Medal
Otto Warburg Medal
Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize
Ernst Jung Prize
Mendel Lectures
Shaw Prize in Life Science and Medicine
Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research
Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences

}}

Peter Walter (born December 5, 1954) is a German-American molecular biologist and biochemist. He is currently the Director of the Bay Area Institute of Science at Altos Labs and an emeritus professor at the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics of the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).{{cite web |title=Peter Walter |url=https://altoslabs.com/team/scientific-leadership/peter-walter/ |publisher=Altos Labs |access-date=August 22, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230822015705/https://altoslabs.com/team/scientific-leadership/peter-walter/ |archive-date=August 22, 2023}}{{cite web |title=Peter Walter, PhD |url=https://profiles.ucsf.edu/peter.walter |publisher=University of California, San Francisco |access-date=August 21, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230821035309/https://profiles.ucsf.edu/peter.walter |archive-date=August 21, 2023}} He was a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Investigator until 2022.

Early life and education

Walter was born and raised in West Berlin in 1954. His parents owned a pharmacy, and he was drawn to chemistry at a young age.{{cite news |last1=Dreifus |first1=Claudia |title=Peter Walter's Voyage Into a Microscopic World |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/16/science/peter-walter-ucsf-biochemistry-unfolded-proteins.html |access-date=August 23, 2023 |work=The New York Times |date=June 15, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230823070751/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/16/science/peter-walter-ucsf-biochemistry-unfolded-proteins.html |archive-date=August 23, 2023}} He entered the Free University of Berlin in 1973 to study chemistry, but the rigid way of teaching science did not engage him. Instead, Walter became interested in biochemistry, which studies the chemistry of cells.{{cite web |title=Autobiography of Peter Walter |url=https://www.shawprize.org/prizes-and-laureates/life-science-and-medicine/2014/autobiography-of-peter-walter |publisher=Shaw Prize |access-date=August 23, 2023 |date=September 24, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230823070723/https://www.shawprize.org/prizes-and-laureates/life-science-and-medicine/2014/autobiography-of-peter-walter |archive-date=August 23, 2023}}

In the last year of his Vordiplom (equivalent to a BSc) in 1976, he went on exchange to Vanderbilt University and conducted research under Thomas M. Harris at the Department of Chemistry on the biosynthetic pathway of slaframine, a fungal alkaloid that is toxic to cows.{{cite journal |last1=Davis |first1=Tinsley H. |title=Profile of Peter Walter |date=2006 |volume=103 |issue=14 |pages=5259–5261 |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |doi=10.1073/pnas.0600257103 |pmid=16567626 |pmc=1459343 |bibcode=2006PNAS..103.5259D |doi-access=free }} Eventually, Walter completed his M.S. at Vanderbilt in 1977.

At the encouragement of Stanford Moore, a biochemistry professor at Rockefeller University and a trustee of Vanderbilt, Walter applied for the PhD programme at Rockefeller. He was placed on the waiting list, but after an accepted student went to Harvard University instead, was offered his place in 1977. He took his PhD under Günter Blobel, and obtained the degree in 1981.

Career

After receiving his PhD, Walter stayed at Rockefeller University as a postdoctoral fellow for a year, then became an assistant professor at the Laboratory of Cell Biology at Rockefeller.

In 1983, he moved to the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics of the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) as an assistant professor. Walter was promoted to associate professor in 1986 and then full professor in five years later. He was chair of the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics of UCSF between 2001 and 2008.{{cite web |title=Prof. Peter Walter |url=https://www.imol.institute/prof-peter-walter-08-05-2023 |publisher=International Institute of Molecular Mechanisms and Machines, Polish Academy of Sciences |access-date=August 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230828030658/https://www.imol.institute/prof-peter-walter-08-05-2023 |archive-date=August 28, 2023}}

Walter became a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator in 1997, and served as the president of the American Society for Cell Biology in 2016.{{cite web |title=ASCB Presidents |url=https://www.ascb.org/about-ascb/presidents/ |publisher=American Society for Cell Biology |access-date=August 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230828033438/https://www.ascb.org/about-ascb/presidents/ |archive-date=August 28, 2023}}

In 2021, there were reports that he would be joining Altos Labs, a new biotechnology company which reportedly focuses on anti-aging research.{{cite magazine |last1=Regalado |first1=Antonio |title=Meet Altos Labs, Silicon Valley's latest wild bet on living forever |journal=MIT Technology Review |date=September 4, 2021 |url=https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/09/04/1034364/altos-labs-silicon-valleys-jeff-bezos-milner-bet-living-forever/ |access-date=August 28, 2023 |archive-date=August 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230828040409/https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/09/04/1034364/altos-labs-silicon-valleys-jeff-bezos-milner-bet-living-forever/}}{{cite news |last1=Ansede |first1=Manuel |title=Silicon Valley start-up funded by billionaires hires top 'anti-aging' experts |url=https://english.elpais.com/usa/2021-09-08/silicon-valley-start-up-funded-by-billionaires-hires-top-anti-aging-experts.html |access-date=August 28, 2023 |work=El País |date=September 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230828074037/https://english.elpais.com/usa/2021-09-08/silicon-valley-start-up-funded-by-billionaires-hires-top-anti-aging-experts.html |archive-date=August 28, 2023}} The next year, he retired from UCSF and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in 2022,{{cite web |title=Peter Walter, PhD |url=https://www.hhmi.org/scientists/peter-walter |publisher=Howard Hughes Medical Institute |access-date=August 21, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230821040706/https://www.hhmi.org/scientists/peter-walter |archive-date=August 21, 2023}}{{cite web |title=Peter Walter |url=https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-walter-altos |publisher=LinkedIn |access-date=August 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230828075141/https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-walter-altos/ |archive-date=August 28, 2023}} and joined Altos Labs as the Director of the Bay Area Institute of Science when the company officially launched.{{cite news |title=Altos Labs Launches with $3B and a Focus on Reversing Disease, Aging |url=https://www.genengnews.com/news/altos-labs-launches-with-3b-and-a-focus-on-reversing-disease-aging/ |access-date=August 28, 2023 |work=Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News |date=January 19, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230828073724/https://www.genengnews.com/news/altos-labs-launches-with-3b-and-a-focus-on-reversing-disease-aging/ |archive-date=August 28, 2023}}{{cite magazine |last1=Otmani |first1=Malin |title=Altos Labs launches with the goal to restore cell health |url=https://nordiclifescience.org/altos-labs-launches-with-the-goal-to-restore-cell-health/ |access-date=August 28, 2023 |magazine=Nordic Life Science |date=January 25, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230828073830/https://nordiclifescience.org/altos-labs-launches-with-the-goal-to-restore-cell-health/ |archive-date=August 28, 2023}}

Walter currently sits on the Scientific Advisory Board of the Zentrum für Molekulare Biologie der Universität Heidelberg of Heidelberg University.{{cite web |title=ZMBH – Scientific Advisory Board |url=https://www.zmbh.uni-heidelberg.de/SAB/default.html |publisher=Heidelberg University |access-date=August 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230828040035/https://www.zmbh.uni-heidelberg.de/SAB/default.html |archive-date=August 28, 2023}}

Walter is a coauthor of the widely used textbook Molecular Biology of the Cell.{{cite book |first1=Bruce |last1=Alberts |first2=Rebecca |last2=Heald |first3=Alexander |last3=Johnson |first4=David |last4=Morgan |first5=Martin |last5=Raff |first6=Keith |last6=Roberts |first7=Peter |last7=Walter |first8=John |last8=Wilson |first9=Tim |last9=Hunt |title=Molecular Biology of the Cell |date=2022 |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |isbn=978-0-393-88482-1 |edition=7 |url=https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393884821/about-the-book/product-details |access-date=August 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230828034453/https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393884821/about-the-book/product-details |archive-date=August 28, 2023}}

Research

[https://www.hhmi.org/bulletin/fall-2015/harnessing-serendipity]

[https://laskerfoundation.org/winners/unfolded-protein-response/]

During his PhD at Günter Blobel's group, Walter purified a protein complex required for moving proteins out of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER){{cite journal |pmid=6938958 |pmc=350451 |date=1980 |last1=Walter |first1=Peter |last2=Blobel |first2=Günter |authorlink2=Günter Blobel |title=Purification of a membrane-associated protein complex required for protein translocation across the endoplasmic reticulum |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |volume=77 |issue=12 |pages=7112–7116 |doi=10.1073/pnas.77.12.7112 |bibcode=1980PNAS...77.7112W |doi-access=free }} and showed the complex selectively recognizes newly synthesized secretory proteins.{{cite journal |doi=10.1083/jcb.91.2.545 |last1=Walter |first1=Peter |last2=Ibrahimi |first2=Ibrahim |last3=Blobel |first3=Günter |authorlink3=Günter Blobel |title=Translocation of proteins across the endoplasmic reticulum. I. Signal recognition protein (SRP) binds to in-vitro-assembled polysomes synthesizing secretory protein |journal=Journal of Cell Biology |volume=91 |issue=2 |pages=545–550 |date=1981 |pmid=7309795 |pmc=2111968 |url=https://rupress.org/jcb/article-pdf/91/2/545/1639437/545.pdf |access-date=August 31, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230831144518/https://rupress.org/jcb/article-pdf/91/2/545/1639437/545.pdf |archive-date=August 31, 2023 |doi-access=free}} He later confirmed the complex is in fact a nucleoprotein and identified the RNA component essential for the complex's function. He also named the complex signal recognition particle (SRP).{{cite journal |last1=Walter |first1=Peter |last2=Blobel |first2=Günter |authorlink2=Günter Blobel |title=Signal recognition particle contains a 7S RNA essential for protein translocation across the endoplasmic reticulum |journal=Nature |volume=299 |issue=5885 |pages=691–698 |date=1982 |pmid=6181418 |doi=10.1038/299691a0 |bibcode=1982Natur.299..691W |s2cid=4237513 |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/299691a0|url-access=subscription }}

By the time Walter joined the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), researchers have established a connection between misfolded proteins in the ER and increased expression of a protein called BiP, which is a chaperone protein that helps other proteins fold correctly. This pathway is termed the unfolded protein response (UPR). However, how cells sense misfolded proteins and relays this information to the cell nucleus to increase the production of UPR-target proteins remains unclear.{{cite journal |last1=Mori |first1=Kazutoshi |authorlink1=Kazutoshi Mori |title=The unfolded protein response: the dawn of a new field |journal=Proceedings of the Japan Academy, Series B: Physical and Biological Sciences |date=2015 |volume=91 |issue=9 |pages=469–480 |doi=10.2183/pjab.91.469 |pmid=26560836 |url=https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/pjab/91/9/91_PJA9109B-02/_html/-char/en |access-date=September 5, 2023 |pmc=4754504 |bibcode=2015PJAB...91..469M |archive-date=September 5, 2023 |doi-access=free |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230905073438/https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/pjab/91/9/91_PJA9109B-02/_html/-char/en}}

In 1993, working on baker's yeast, Walter found a gene, IRE1, which encodes a kinase. The IRE1 protein is located across the ER membrane, so a part of it can detect unfolded proteins inside the ER and the other part can phosphorylate proteins outside of the ER.{{cite journal |doi=10.1016/0092-8674(93)90648-A |pmid=8513503 |title=Transcriptional induction of genes encoding endoplasmic reticulum resident proteins requires a transmembrane protein kinase |journal=Cell |volume=73 |issue=6 |pages=1197–1206 |year=1993 |last1=Cox |first1=Jeffrey S. |last2=Shamu |first2=Caroline E. |last3=Walter |first3=Peter |s2cid=16065404 |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/009286749390648A|url-access=subscription }} The same year, Kazutoshi Mori, at the time a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, independently made the same discovery.{{cite journal |first1=Kazutoshi |last1=Mori |first2=Wenzhen |last2=Ma |first3=Mary–Jane |last3=Gething |first4=Joseph |last4=Sambrook |authorlink1=Kazutoshi Mori |authorlink4=Joseph Sambrook |title=A transmembrane protein with a cdc2+/CDC28-related kinase activity is required for signaling from the ER to the nucleus |journal=Cell |date=1993 |volume=74 |issue=4 |pages=743–756 |doi=10.1016/0092-8674(93)90521-q |pmid=8358794 |s2cid=20732881 |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/009286749390521Q |access-date=September 5, 2023|url-access=subscription }}

Walter and Mori next independently sought the phosphorylation target of the IRE1 protein. Theoretically, upon phosphorylation, this target will enter the cell nucleus and increase the production of UPR-target proteins. Both of them arrived at the same gene, HAC1, in 1996.{{cite journal |last1=Cox |first1=Jeffey S. |last2=Walter |first2=Peter |title=A Novel Mechanism for Regulating Activity of a Transcription Factor That Controls the Unfolded Protein Response |journal=Cell |date=1996 |volume=87 |issue=3 |pages=391–404 |doi=10.1016/s0092-8674(00)81360-4 |pmid=8898193 |doi-access=free }}{{cite journal |first1=Kazutoshi |last1=Mori |first2=Tetsushi |last2=Kawahara |first3=Hiderou |last3=Yoshida |first4=Hideki |last4=Yanagi |first5=Takashi |last5=Yura |authorlink1=Kazutoshi Mori |title=Signalling from endoplasmic reticulum to nucleus: transcription factor with a basic-leucine zipper motif is required for the unfolded protein-response pathway |journal=Genes to Cells |date=1996 |volume=1 |issue=9 |pages=803–817 |doi=10.1046/j.1365-2443.1996.d01-274.x |pmid=9077435 |doi-access=free }} This discovery, however, was unexpected as the HAC1 protein is produced only after IRE1 detects unfolded proteins, meaning the protein is not present to be phosphorylated by IRE1.

This difference was mitigated by the finding of Mori and Walter that after IRE1 senses unfolded proteins, it splices the HAC1 precursor mRNA, which is transcribed from the HAC1 gene, resulting in a mature mRNA that is translated into the HAC1 protein.{{cite journal |last1=Sidrauski |first1=Carmela |last2=Walter |first2=Peter |title=The Transmembrane Kinase Ire1p Is a Site-Specific Endonuclease That Initiates mRNA Splicing in the Unfolded Protein Response |journal=Cell |date=1997 |volume=90 |issue=6 |pages=1031–1039 |doi=10.1016/s0092-8674(00)80369-4 |pmid=9323131 |doi-access=free }}{{cite journal |first1=Tetsushi |last1=Kawahara |first2=Hideki |last2=Yanagi |first3=Takashi |last3=Yura |first4=Kazutoshi |last4=Mori |authorlink4=Kazutoshi Mori |title=Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress-induced mRNA Splicing Permits Synthesis of Transcription Factor Hac1p/Ern4p That Activates the Unfolded Protein Response |journal=Molecular Biology of the Cell |date=1997 |volume=8 |issue=10 |pages=1845–1862 |doi=10.1091/mbc.8.10.1845 |pmid=9348528 |doi-access=free |pmc=25627}} Walter also discovered the phosphorylation target of IRE1, which turned out to be another IRE1 molecule, a process known as trans-autophosphorylation,{{cite journal |last1=Shamu |first1=Caroline E. |last2=Walter |first2=Peter |title=Oligomerization and phosphorylation of the Irelp kinase during intracellular signaling from the endoplasmic reticulum to the nucleus |journal=The EMBO Journal |date=1996 |volume=15 |issue=12 |pages=3028–3039 |doi=10.1002/j.1460-2075.1996.tb00666.x |pmid=8670804 |pmc=450244 |doi-access=free}} and also the enzyme stitching the spliced precursor HAC1 mRNA together.{{cite journal |first1=Tania N. |last1=Gonzalez |first2=Carmela |last2=Sidrauski |first3=Silke |last3=Dörfler |first4=Peter |last4=Walter |title=Mechanism of non-spliceosomal mRNA splicing in the unfolded protein response pathway |journal=The EMBO Journal |date=1999 |volume=18 |issue=11 |pages=3119–3132 |doi=10.1093/emboj/18.11.3119 |pmid=10357823 |url=https://www.embopress.org/doi/full/10.1093/emboj/18.11.3119 |access-date=September 7, 2023 |pmc=1171393 |doi-access=free |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230907033832/https://www.embopress.org/doi/full/10.1093/emboj/18.11.3119 |archive-date=September 7, 2023}}

In 2013, Walter's group identified a molecule that inhibits the integrated stress response (ISR). The ISR is the cell's response to stresses such as viral infection, ultraviolet light and the accumulation of unfolded and misfolded proteins. ISR activates the EIF2α protein, reducing most protein synthesis and increasing the production of some regulatory molecules.{{cite journal |first1=Karolina |last1=Pakos-Zebrucka |first2=Izabela |last2=Koryga |first3=Katarzyna |last3=Mnich |first4=Mila |last4=Ljujic |first5=Afshin |last5=Samali |first6=Adrienne M. |last6=Gorman |title=The integrated stress response |journal=EMBO Reports |date=2016 |volume=17 |issue=10 |pages=1374–1395 |doi=10.15252/embr.201642195 |pmid=27629041 |pmc=5048378 |doi-access=free }} His group found the inhibitor reversed EIF2α activation, and named it ISRIB for "integrated stress response inhibitor". Remarkably, they found mice injected with ISRIB had improved memory.{{cite journal |first1=Carmela |last1=Sidrauski |first2=Diego |last2=Acosta-Alvear |first3=Arkady |last3=Khoutorsky |first4=Punitha |last4=Vedantham |first5=Brian R. |last5=Hearn |first6=Han |last6=Li |first7=Karine |last7=Gamache |first8=Ciara M. |last8=Gallagher |first9=Kenny K.-H. |last9=Ang |first10=Chris |last10=Wilson |first11=Voytek |last11=Okreglak |first12=Avi |last12=Ashkenazi |first13=Byron |last13=Hann |first14=Karim |last14=Nader |first15=Michelle R. |last15=Arkin |first16=Adam R. |last16=Renslo |first17=Nahum |last17=Sonenberg |first18=Peter |last18=Walter |title=Pharmacological brake-release of mRNA translation enhances cognitive memory |journal=eLife |date=2013 |volume=2 |page=e00498 |doi=10.7554/eLife.00498 |pmid=23741617 |pmc=3667625 |doi-access=free}} ISRIB was licensed to Alphabet subsidiary Calico in 2015.{{cite magazine |last1=Piore |first1=Adam |title=The miracle molecule that could treat brain injuries and boost your fading memory |url=https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/08/25/1031783/isrib-molecule-treat-brain-injuries-memory/ |access-date=September 2, 2023 |magazine=MIT Technology Review |date=August 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230902162436/https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/08/25/1031783/isrib-molecule-treat-brain-injuries-memory/ |archive-date=September 2, 2023}}

Awards and honors

  • 1983 - Searle Scholar{{cite book |last1=Fambroug |first1=Douglas M. |title=Enhancing Philanthropy's Support of Biomedical Scientists: Proceedings of a Workshop on Evaluation National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine |date=2006 |publisher=National Academies Press |chapter-url=https://nap.nationalacademies.org/read/11646/chapter/5 |archive-date=September 8, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230908033606/https://nap.nationalacademies.org/read/11646/chapter/5 |isbn=9780309100977 |pages=43–51 |access-date=September 8, 2023 |chapter=Searle Scholars Program: Selection and Evaluation of Searle Scholars National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine}}
  • 1988 - Eli Lilly Award in Biological Chemistry{{cite web |title=Eli Lilly Award in Biological Chemistry |url=http://oldsite.divbiolchem.org/content/lillyawardees1.pdf |publisher=Division of Biological Chemistry, American Chemical Society |access-date=August 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230829091602/http://oldsite.divbiolchem.org/content/lillyawardees1.pdf |archive-date=August 29, 2023}}
  • 1989 - Sloan Research Fellowship{{cite web |title=Fellows Database |url=https://sloan.org/fellows-database |publisher=Alfred P. Sloan Foundation |access-date=August 26, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230826162524/https://sloan.org/fellows-database |archive-date=August 26, 2023}}
  • 2002 - Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences{{cite web |title=Peter Walter |url=https://www.amacad.org/person/peter-walter |publisher=American Academy of Arts and Sciences |access-date=August 26, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230826161420/https://www.amacad.org/person/peter-walter |archive-date=August 26, 2023}}
  • 2004 - Member of the National Academy of Sciences{{cite web |title=Peter Walter |url=http://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/members/2541550.html |publisher=National Academy of Sciences |access-date=August 26, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230826161233/http://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/members/2541550.html |archive-date=August 26, 2023}}
  • 2004 - Associate Member of the European Molecular Biology Organization{{cite web |title=Peter Walter |url=https://people.embo.org/profile/peter-walter |publisher=European Molecular Biology Organization |access-date=May 31, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230531151132/https://people.embo.org/profile/peter-walter |archive-date=May 31, 2023}}
  • 2005 - Wiley Prize in Biomedical Science{{cite web |title=The Wiley Prize in Biomedical Sciences |url=https://www.wiley.com/en-us/foundation/prize/biomedical |publisher=Wiley Foundation |access-date=August 29, 2023}}
  • 2006 - Member of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina{{cite web |title=Peter Walter |url=https://www.leopoldina.org/en/members/list-of-members/list-of-members/member/Member/show/peter-walter/ |publisher=German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina |access-date=April 19, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230419065532/https://www.leopoldina.org/en/members/list-of-members/list-of-members/member/Member/show/peter-walter/ |archive-date=April 19, 2023}}
  • 2009 - Gairdner Foundation International Award{{cite web |title=Peter Walter |url=https://www.gairdner.org/winner/peter-walter |publisher=Gairdner Foundation |access-date=August 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230829092153/https://www.gairdner.org/winner/peter-walter |archive-date=August 29, 2023}}
  • 2009 - E.B. Wilson Medal{{cite web |title=E.B. Wilson Medal |url=https://www.ascb.org/award/e-b-wilson-medal/ |publisher=American Society for Cell Biology |access-date=August 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230830051501/https://www.ascb.org/award/e-b-wilson-medal/ |archive-date=August 30, 2023}}
  • 2011 - Otto Warburg Medal{{cite web |title=Otto-Warburg-Medaille |url=https://gbm-online.de/de/studium-karriere/awards-of-the-gbm/awards-of-the-gbm-details/otto-warburg-medaille.html |publisher=German Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology |access-date=August 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230830051704/https://gbm-online.de/de/studium-karriere/awards-of-the-gbm/awards-of-the-gbm-details/otto-warburg-medaille.html |archive-date=August 30, 2023}}
  • 2012 - Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize{{cite web |title=Prize Winner of the Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize 2012 |url=https://www.goethe-university-frankfurt.de/96893907/Preistr%C3%A4ger_2012 |publisher=Goethe University Frankfurt |access-date=August 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230830060114/https://www.goethe-university-frankfurt.de/96893907/Preistr%C3%A4ger_2012 |archive-date=August 30, 2023}}
  • 2012 - Ernst Jung Prize{{cite web |title=Laureates 1976 to 2022 |url=https://jung-stiftung.de/en/the-awards/jung-prize-for-medicine/laureates-1976-to-2022/ |publisher=Ernst Jung Foundation |access-date=August 14, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230814071534/https://jung-stiftung.de/en/the-awards/jung-prize-for-medicine/laureates-1976-to-2022/ |archive-date=August 14, 2023}}
  • 2013 - Mendel Lectures{{cite web |title=The unfolded protein response in health and disease |url=https://mendellectures.muni.cz/home/lectures/20122013#_lect_back7 |publisher=Mendel Lectures |access-date=August 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230830060552/https://mendellectures.muni.cz/home/lectures/20122013#_lect_back7 |archive-date=August 30, 2023}}
  • 2014 - Shaw Prize in Life Science and Medicine{{cite web |title=The 2014 Prize in Life Science & Medicine |url=https://www.shawprize.org/laureates/life-science-medicine/2014 |publisher=Shaw Prize |access-date=August 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230823073749/https://www.shawprize.org/laureates/life-science-medicine/2014 |archive-date=August 23, 2023}}
  • 2014 - Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research{{cite web |title=2014 Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award |url=https://laskerfoundation.org/winners/unfolded-protein-response/ |publisher=Lasker Award |access-date=August 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230830060937/https://laskerfoundation.org/winners/unfolded-protein-response/ |archive-date=August 30, 2023}}
  • 2015 - Vilcek Prize in Biomedical Science{{cite web |title=Peter Walter |url=https://vilcek.org/prizes/prize-recipients/peter-walter/ |publisher=Vilcek Foundation |access-date=August 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230830061041/https://vilcek.org/prizes/prize-recipients/peter-walter/ |archive-date=August 30, 2023}}
  • 2017 - Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors{{cite web |title=Fellows List |url=https://academyofinventors.org/search-fellows/ |publisher=National Academy of Inventors |access-date=August 26, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230826162157/https://academyofinventors.org/search-fellows/ |archive-date=August 26, 2023}}
  • 2018 - Member of the National Academy of Medicine{{cite web |title=Dr. Peter Walter |url=https://nam.edu/member/?member_id=HthE%2Bjox16z8ctsxfPevzw%3D%3D |publisher=National Academy of Medicine |access-date=August 26, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230826161843/https://nam.edu/member/?member_id=HthE%2Bjox16z8ctsxfPevzw%3D%3D |archive-date=August 26, 2023}}
  • 2018 - Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences{{cite web |title=Peter Walter |url=https://breakthroughprize.org/Laureates/2/L3824 |publisher=Breakthrough Prize |access-date=August 22, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230822015145/https://breakthroughprize.org/Laureates/2/L3824 |archive-date=August 22, 2023}}
  • 2023 - BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award[https://www.frontiersofknowledgeawards-fbbva.es/ BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award 2023]

Personal life

Walter is married to Patricia Caldera-Muñoz,{{cite news |last1=Kim |first1=Leland |title=Peter Walter: 'This Honor Really Belongs to All of Us' |url=https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2014/09/117381/peter-walter-honor-really-belongs-all-us |access-date=August 25, 2023 |publisher=University of California, San Francisco |date=September 19, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230825082958/https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2014/09/117381/peter-walter-honor-really-belongs-all-us |archive-date=August 25, 2023}} whom he met in New York City during his PhD years at Rockefeller University and when Caldera-Muñoz was a chemistry PhD student at New York University. Before retiring, Caldera-Muñoz worked at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Science and Health Education Partnership, where she coordinated outreach to local science teachers.{{cite magazine |last1=Landhuis |first1=Esther |title=Harnessing Serendipity |journal=HHMI Bulletin |date=2015 |volume=28 |issue=3 |pages=18–23 |url=https://www.hhmi.org/bulletin/fall-2015/harnessing-serendipity |access-date=August 25, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230825082851/https://www.hhmi.org/bulletin/fall-2015/harnessing-serendipity |archive-date=August 25, 2023}}{{cite news |last1=Kaarlela |first1=Corinna |title=New council promotes partnerships between UCSF and community |url=https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2006/05/97861/new-council-promotes-partnerships-between-ucsf-and-community |access-date=August 25, 2023 |publisher=University of California, San Francisco |date=May 31, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230825083644/https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2006/05/97861/new-council-promotes-partnerships-between-ucsf-and-community |archive-date=August 25, 2023}}

Walter was diagnosed with neck cancer in 2009.{{cite news |last1=McFarling |first1=Usha Lee |title=Peter Walter just won the Breakthrough Prize. His work? Trying to heal human brains |url=https://www.statnews.com/2016/09/28/memory-isrib-peter-walter/ |access-date=September 1, 2023 |work=Stat |date=September 28, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230901141831/https://www.statnews.com/2016/09/28/memory-isrib-peter-walter/ |archive-date=September 1, 2023}}

References

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