We are pleased to announce that the 2025 JCS–David Stephens Prize has been awarded to Jason Casler for his paper entitled ‘Mitochondria plasma membrane contact sites regulate the ER mitochondria encounter structure’ (Casler et al., 2025).The JCS–David Stephens Prize (previously the ‘JCS Prize’, renamed in 2025 in memory of David Stephens our former Editor; doi:10.1242/jcs.263973) is a £1000 prize that is awarded annually to the first author(s) of the paper that is judged by the Editors and Editor-in-Chief to be the best research article published in the journal that year. You can find out more about this year's winner below. A list of articles that were shortlisted for the prize can also be found at the end of this article.We'd like to take this opportunity to thank the authors of all our 2025 papers for their valuable contributions to the journal, and to congratulate the prize winner and those shortlisted by our Editors.Jason earned his PhD in Cell and Molecular Biology at the University of Chicago, Illinois, USA, where he studied the mechanisms of protein trafficking in the endomembrane system in the laboratory of Dr Benjamin Glick. He developed a novel fluorescent protein-based assay to visualize protein trafficking in living cells (Casler et al., 2019). Development of this tool led to several discoveries, including verifying fundamental predictions of the cisternal maturation model of Golgi function, visualizing the kinetic segregation of protein sorting during Golgi maturation, and the characterization of a clathrin adaptor-dependent intra-Golgi recycling pathway (Casler et al., 2019; Casler and Glick, 2020; Casler et al., 2022).As a postdoc, Jason switched focus to study the mechanisms of non-vesicular transport between organelles. He joined the laboratory of Dr Laura Lackner at Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA, where he began a project to characterize mitochondrial membrane contact sites (MCSs). There, he first identified the molecules mediating a tripartite MCS between mitochondria, the ER and the plasma membrane (PM), known as MECA, and characterized the role of the MECA in regulating mitochondrial division and lipid metabolism (Casler et al., 2024). He next sought to understand how one MCS could influence the function of other MCSs. This led to the characterization of an interaction between MECA and ERMES, a mitochondria–ER MCS involved in lipid transport. This study revealed that MECA regulates the distribution of ERMES and influences the formation of new ERMES contacts (Casler et al., 2025). This work, which has been recognized by the 2025 JCS–David Stephens Prize, provides a clear demonstration that one MCS can influence the form and function of another, and helps pave the way towards understanding the network of MCS interactions that regulate organelle function.Jason currently holds an appointment as a Research Assistant Professor at Northwestern University, where he also serves as the Managing Director of the Biological Imaging Facility and continues to pursue his research on organelle MCSs.
Michael Way (Sun,) studied this question.