Rudolf Jaenisch, professor of biology and a founding member of the Whitehead Institute, was MIT's James R. Killian, Jr. Faculty Achievement Award winner for 2009–2010. A pioneer in the field of mammalian developmental genetics, Professor Jaenisch helped found the area of transgenic science, the science of gene transfer for making mouse models, which is now widely used for studying human genetic diseases. He was awarded the National Medal of Science in 2010.