For "discovering how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and telomerase", he won the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (telomeres are a key factor affecting human aging and related to cancer)

Carol Greider was born in San Diego, California in the United States. Both of her parents were academics. Her mother died when Carol was only seven years old, which gave her an independent nature at an early age. Initially, Carol Greider had a difficult time at school, however. An enthusiastic teacher later aroused her interest in biology. She received her PhD from the University of California, Berkeley in 1987. Her supervisor at Berkeley was Elizabeth Blackburn, whom she later shared a Nobel Prize with. Carol Greider later transferred to Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland in the United States. She is married with two children.