Stanford professor surprises kids after winning Nobel Prize
After Stanford professor Karl Deisseroth learned he won a Nobel Prize, the father of five surprised his children with the exciting news.
In an Instagram video shared by the university, the neuroscientist and professor of bioengineering, psychiatry and behavioral sciences first tells his two daughters Sophie, 10, and Emma, 13, and then his son Hudson.
"Oh, my God!" the girls exclaim, before sharing a bear hug with their father.
"Dad, you've won all the prizes!" Sophie added.
When Hudson hears the news, he reacts with, "What? Oh my God, what?" before adding, "That's awesome!"
Deisseroth learned through a late-night phone call that he won the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine, an honor he shares this year with Peter Hegemann at Humboldt University of Berlin and Georg Nagel of the University of Würzburg in Germany, for their work in optogenetics.
"Optogenetics is a way of turning cells on or off with light," Deisseroth explained in another video shared by Stanford. "The brain is a jumble of incredibly beautiful complex intertwined cells. How does that work? Anything the brain does, we can turn cells on or off and test ideas."
Despite his busy schedule, Deisseroth also makes sure to carve out time every day to make sandwiches for his three youngest kids, usually a ranch dressing, cheddar cheese, salami and turkey for Hudson, a ranch, cheddar and meat sandwich for Sophie, and Emma's almond butter, honey and cinnamon sandwich on raisin bread, according to Stanford.
The university said Deisseroth is the 37th Nobel Prize laureate from the California institution.
"We're all so proud that Karl is not only one of our faculty members here at Stanford, he was one of our students," Stanford President Jonathan Levin said in a statement on social media. "He received his M.D. and his Ph.D. at Stanford. He completed his residency training here. He continues to see patients as a practicing psychiatrist. He's also the director of undergraduate education and bioengineering. So, all in over, we're just very proud of Karl."
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