Agre shared the 2003 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Roderick MacKinnon of Rockefeller University for the discovery of aquaporins, the key proteins that transport water across cell membranes. Not long after receiving the Nobel Prize, Agre began working to extend his studies of aquaporins to malaria, addressing the question of whether or not aquaporins could be exploited as a means of treating or preventing the disease. Initial results led his laboratory to focus on malaria as its primary area of study. As director of the Malaria Research Center, he oversees 19 Hopkins faculty members who concentrate on advancing basic science to develop new methods in malaria prevention and treatment. Agre is a member of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), chair of the NAS Committee on Human Rights, and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He received his B.A. degree in chemistry from Augsburg College and his M.D. degree from Johns Hopkins University.