Michael Hall identified two proteins, TOR1 and TOR2, which regulate cell growth and metabolism in response to nutrient availability. These proteins are crucial in the ageing process and in the onset of age-related diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular conditions.

In 2017 he was also awarded the Lasker Award for discoveries concerning the nutrient-activated TOR proteins and their central role in the metabolic control of cell growth. Press release.

Professor Hall has won an ERC Synergy Grant in 2013 with the research project Mechanisms of Evasive Resistance in Cancer and then an ERC Proof of Concept in 2019 working on Novel selective mTORC1 inhibitors.

The International Balzan Prize Foundation aims to promote culture, sciences, and the most meritorious initiatives in the cause of humanity, peace, and fraternity among peoples throughout the world. The value of each prize is 750,000 Swiss francs, half of which goes to research projects carried out by young scholars. To date, 15 ERC grantees have won this award.

About the ERC  

The European Research Council, set up by the European Union in 2007, is the premier European funding organisation for excellent frontier research. It funds creative researchers of any nationality and age, to run projects based across Europe. The ERC offers four core grant schemes: Starting Grants, Consolidator Grants, Advanced Grants and Synergy Grants. With its additional Proof of Concept Grant scheme, the ERC helps grantees to bridge the gap between their pioneering research and early phases of its commercialisation. The ERC is led by an independent governing body, the Scientific Council. Maria Leptin is the current President of the ERC. The overall ERC budget from 2021 to 2027 is more than €16 billion, as part of the Horizon Europe programme, under the responsibility of European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, Iliana Ivanova.