Illustration of the German-US neuroscientist Thomas C Sudhof (born 1955). Sudhof is best known for his work on synaptic vesicles, cell organelles that deliver neurotransmitters across a synapse from one neuron (nerve cell) to another. He discovered proteins that mediated the fusion of vesicles with the presynaptic membrane, the process by which the neurotransmitters are released into the synaptic gap and proteins that form a physical connection between the pre- and post-synaptic membranes. He has also investigated how disruptions to this process can lead to disease. Sudhof shared the 2013 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine with Randy Shekman and Thomas C Sudhof for his work.