Lori Passmore, from the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, UK, is the first recipient of the Elisa Izaurralde Award. Lori has made outstanding contributions to our understanding of the mechanisms of RNA polyadenylation and deadenylation and their coupling to transcription and translation. Her courage and commitment to long-term challenging projects, along with her contributions to the development of cryo-EM methods, allowed her to functionally reconstitute and determine the structure of large multi-protein complexes involved in nucleic acids metabolism, including the 1MDa cleavage and polyadenylation (CPF) complex, the 0.5 MDa Ccr4-Not deadenylation complex and the Fanconi anemia ubiquitin ligase complex. A concept emerging from her work is that the regulatory properties of such complexes critically depend on the entangled activities and mutual influences of their components. Lori is also a dedicated mentor and a passionate science educator and activist. She was nominated by Kevin Weeks and Witek Filipowicz.