Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation

The Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation "promotes the belief that scientific investigation and a fundamental understanding of basic molecular biology and disease processes are key to reducing human suffering from disease and disability and to prolonging the healthy lifespan. The Foundation was established in 1942 with a mission that was novel at the time: to encourage federal financial support for biomedical research in the United States. Albert Lasker said that the Foundation should provide seed money for research projects, then stimulate the federal government to continue the efforts. The Foundation also created a venue for educating the public about the many benefits of research for human health. Through the Lasker Medical Research Awards, established in 1945, the Foundation has recognized the contributions of scientists, physicians, and public servants who have made major advances in the understanding, diagnosis, treatment, cure, and prevention of human disease. The Awards are unique in their emphasis on the promise of new discoveries, rather than on well established practices.

"More than 300 Lasker Awards have been bestowed and as of today 75 Lasker Awardees in the basic and clinical sciences have gone on to receive the Nobel Prize, often within two years of their Lasker Award. Lasker winners include such brilliant men and women of science as James Watson, Barbara McClintock, Harold Varmus, Stanley Prusiner, Joseph L. Goldstein, Marshall Nirenberg, Sidney Farber, Albert Sabin, and Michael DeBakey. Many biomedical advances that we now take for granted were originally the work of Lasker Awardees, advances ranging from deciphering the genetic code to understanding the mechanisms of immunity, from developing the heart-lung machine to creating the polio vaccine - evidence of the program's success in identifying significant new research...

"In 1996, a new Award was initiated, the Albert Lasker Award for Special Achievement in Medical Science. This Award honors the lifetime body of work of a scientist who has made major contributions to the understanding of basic biomedical processes. The Lasker Award winners currently are chosen by a jury of preeminent scientists from around the world, chaired by Joseph L. Goldstein M.D."

Directors
Accessed November 2007:


 * James W. Fordyce - Chairperson
 * Neen Hunt - President
 * W. Michael Brown - Secretary
 * Jordan U. Gutterman - Representative, Albert Lasker Medical Research Awards Program
 * Christopher W. Brody
 * Purnell W. Choppin
 * Robert C. Cullen
 * Michael E. DeBakey
 * G.S. Beckwith Gilbert
 * Faith Hochberg
 * Daniel E. Koshland, Jr.
 * Sherry Lansing
 * Alfred Sommer
 * Cathy Sulzberger
 * Humphrey Taylor
 * Martin Tolchin
 * Kern Wildenthal

Directors Emeritus
 * Mark O. Hatfield
 * William McCormick Blair, Jr.
 * Anne B. Fordyce

Permanent Directors
 * James W. Fordyce
 * Christopher W. Brody
 * W. Michael Brown

Staff

 * David Keegan - Awards Program Director

Contact

 * Web: http://www.laskerfoundation.org