Ron Evans stands alongside a photograph of Jonas Salk, his colleague and mentor. (Photo: Ben Dishman) SAN DIEGO (SDJW) — Ron Evans, the who discovered how hormones can switch on and off receptors in cells, has been awarded the Japan Prize for his work at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. The Japan Prize is so prestigious, it has often been described as a precursor of the Nobel Prize. Evans, who now occupies the office of his mentor, Dr. Jonas Salk, was the subject of a chapter in Schlepping and Schmoozing Along the Interstate 5, a book written by San Diego Jewish World’s publisher and…