# Svetlana Mojsov

Svetlana Mojsov is a Yugoslav-born Macedonian American chemist who is a research associate professor at Rockefeller University. Her research considers peptide synthesis. She discovered the glucagon-like peptide-1 and uncovered its role in glucose metabolism and the secretion of insulin. Her breakthroughs were transformed by Novo Nordisk into therapeutic agents against diabetes and obesity.

## Early life and education

Mojsov was born in Skopje, SR Macedonia, SFR Yugoslavia, and did her undergraduate degree in physical chemistry in Belgrade. She joined the graduate program at the Rockefeller University in 1972, where she worked alongside Robert Bruce Merrifield (1984 Nobel Prize in Chemistry) on the synthesis of peptides. Specifically, Mojsov focused on the synthesis of glucagon, a hormone which is released by the pancreas. At the time it was proposed that glucagon might help to treat Type 2 diabetes.

## Research and career

In the 1980s, Mojsov moved to the Massachusetts General Hospital, where she was made head of a peptide synthesis facility. She arrived at MGH shortly after Joel Habener had cloned proglucagon by studying anglerfish found in Boston Harbor. Mojsov worked on the identification of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), a hormone generated by the gut that triggers the release of insulin. The amino acid sequence of GLP-1 was similar to a gastric inhibitory peptide, an incretin. To try to identify whether a specific fragment of GLP-1 was an incretin, Mojsov synthesized an incretin-antibody and developed ways to track its presence. Specifically, Mojsov identified that a stretch of 31 amino acids in the GLP-1 was an incretin. Together with Gordon Weir at the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston and Habener, Mojsov showed that small quantities of lab-synthesized GLP-1 could trigger insulin.
In the 1990s, Mojsov returned to New York City, where she went back to Rockefeller University and the laboratory of Ralph M. Steinman (2011 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine). In 1992, the group at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) using GLP-1 synthesized by Mojsov tested the GLP-1 in humans. Drugs that emulate the action of GLP1 have been developed into treatments for obesity and diabetes by Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly. Eventually, the GLP-1 derivatives Mojsov synthesized were patented as peptides able to prompt the release of insulin, but with Joel Habener as the sole-creator. Mojsov fought to have her name included in patents, with MGH eventually agreeing to amend four patents to include her name and she received her one-third of drug royalties for one year. She has continued to speak up for credit after her collaborators received various awards as new versions of GLP-1 have been approved and grown popular.

## Prizes and awards

* 2023: VinFuture, Innovators with Outstanding Achievements in Emerging Fields – Jens Juul Holst, Joel Francis Habener, Daniel Joshua Drucker and Svetlana Mojsov
* 2023: Nature 10 most influential people who shaped science
* 2024: Pearl Meister Greengard Prize by the Rockefeller University
* 2024: Time 100 Most Influential People, Pioneers section
* 2024: Princess of Asturias Awards, Technical and Scientific Research – Daniel J. Drucker, Jeffrey M. Friedman, Joel F. Habener, Jens Juul Holst and Svetlana Mojsov
* 2024: Tang Prize, Biopharmaceutical Science – Joel F. Habener, Svetlana Mojsov and Jens Juul Holst
* 2024: Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award – Joel Habener, Svetlana Mojsov and Lotte Bjerre Knudsen
* 2024: BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Awards - Biology and Biomedicne - Daniel Joshua Drucker, Joel Habener, Jens Juul Holst and Svetlana Mojsov
* 2025: Warren Triennial Prize – Joel Habener, Daniel J. Drucker, Jens Holst and Svetlana Mojsov

## Selected publications

* Mojsov, Svetlana; Merrifield, R. B. (1984-12). "An improved synthesis of crystalline mammalian glucagon". European Journal of Biochemistry. 145 (3): 601–605. doi:10.1111/j.1432-1033.1984.tb08599.x. ISSN 0014-2956.
* Svetlana Mojsov; Gordon C. Weir; Joel F. Habener (1 February 1987). "Insulinotropin: glucagon-like peptide I (7-37) co-encoded in the glucagon gene is a potent stimulator of insulin release in the perfused rat pancreas". Journal of Clinical Investigation. 79 (2): 616–619. doi:10.1172/JCI112855. ISSN 0021-9738. PMC 424143. PMID 3543057. Wikidata Q40920945.
* S Mojsov; G Heinrich; I B Wilson; M Ravazzola; L Orci; J F Habener (1 September 1986). "Preproglucagon gene expression in pancreas and intestine diversifies at the level of post-translational processing". Journal of Biological Chemistry. 261 (25): 11880–11889. doi:10.1016/S0021-9258(18)67324-7. ISSN 0021-9258. PMID 3528148. Wikidata Q68895656.
* Nathan, David M; Schreiber, Eric; Fogel, Howard; Mojsov, Svetlana; Habener, Joel F (1992-02-01). "Insulinotropic Action of Glucagonlike Peptide-I-(7–37) in Diabetic and Nondiabetic Subjects". Diabetes Care. 15 (2): 270–276. doi:10.2337/diacare.15.2.270. ISSN 0149-5992

## Personal life

Her father was the politician and diplomat Lazar Mojsov. At graduate school Mojsov met her future husband, Michel C. Nussenzweig.