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Nancy Brinker Honored with 2005 Lasker Public Service Award
(News release courtesy of the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation)
Fathers of Stem-Cell Research and Pioneers in Gene Detection and DNA Fingerprinting Receive Lasker Awards for Medical Research
NEW YORK -- September 28, 2005 The 2005 Albert Lasker Medical Research Awards were announced on September 18. Now celebrating its 60th anniversary, the Lasker Awards are the nation's most distinguished honor for outstanding contributions to basic and clinical medical research, as well as public service on behalf of the medical research enterprise.
The Awards were presented at a luncheon ceremony on September 23 at the Pierre Hotel in New York City. U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison was the keynote speaker; she serves on the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Often called "America's Nobels," the Lasker Awards have honored 70 scientists who subsequently went on to receive the Nobel Prize, including 19 in the last 15 years.
Leading medical researchers honored
The 2005 Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research was shared by Ernest McCulloch and James Till of the Ontario Cancer Institute and the University of Toronto (Canada) for ingenious experiments that first identified a stem cell--a blood-forming stem cell--which set the stage for all current research on adult and embryonic stem cells.
The 2005 Lasker Award for Clinical Medical Research was presented to Edwin Southern of the University of Oxford (UK) and Alec Jeffreys of the University of Leicester (UK) for development of two powerful technologies--Southern hybridization and DNA fingerprinting--that together revolutionized human genetics and forensic diagnostics.
Visionary brings breast cancer out of the shadows
The 2005 Mary Woodard Lasker Award for Public Service honored Nancy G. Brinker, founder of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, for creating one of the world's great organizations devoted to fighting breast cancer and dramatically increasing public awareness about this devastating disease.
Brinker transformed an issue that was not mentioned in polite conversation into an international discussion. The loss of her sister, compounded by her own breast cancer diagnosis, instilled her with powerful knowledge and motivation. She created an advocacy movement where none existed before, building a world-class organization with the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation and spawning a global effort aimed at wiping out this ruinous illness.
In addition to her work with the Komen Foundation, Brinker has spoken out about the importance of patients' rights and medical advances in the area of breast cancer research and treatment and has advocated women's health issues in congressional hearings. Presidents Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush have recognized Brinker's acumen and achievements, appointing her to various cancer advisory boards and committees. In 2001, President Bush appointed her to serve as U. S. Ambassador to the Republic of Hungary, where she continued her breast cancer and women's health advocacy abroad.
About the Lasker Awards
The Lasker Awards, first presented in 1946, are administered by the Albert & Mary Lasker Foundation. The late Mary Lasker is widely recognized for her singular contribution to the growth of the National Institutes of Health and her unflagging commitment to government funding of medical research in the hope of curing devastating diseases. Her support for medical research spanned five decades, during which she was the nations foremost citizen-activist on behalf of medical science.
Lasker Award recipients receive a citation highlighting their achievements, and an inscribed statuette of the Winged Victory of Samothrace, the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation's traditional symbol representing humanity's victory over disability, disease, and death. Recipients of the Lasker Awards for Basic and Clinical Medical Research also receive an honorarium. For more information please visit www.laskerfoundation.org.
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About Komen:
Nancy G. Brinker promised her dying sister, Susan G. Komen, she would do everything in her power to end breast cancer forever. In 1982, that promise became Susan G. Komen for the Cure and launched the global breast cancer movement. Today, Komen for the Cure is the world's largest grassroots network of breast cancer survivors and activists fighting to save lives, empower people, ensure quality care for all and energize science to find the cures. Thanks to events like the Komen Race for the Cure, we have invested nearly $1 billion to fulfill our promise, becoming the largest source of nonprofit funds dedicated to the fight against breast cancer in the world. For more information about Susan G. Komen for the Cure, breast health or breast cancer, visit www.komen.org or call 1-877 GO KOMEN.
About the Affiliate:
Led by more than 100,000 survivors and activists, Komen is the world' largest and most progressive grassroots network fighting to end breast cancer forever. We are local activists in 124 cities and communities, mobilizing more than one million friends and neighbors every year through events like the Komen Race for the Cure Series, the world's largest and most successful awareness and fundraising event for breast cancer. We are advocates at the local, state and federal level, fighting for the screening and treatment programs that save lives and the research that brings us closer to the cure.
Sacramento Valley Affiliate
Susan G. Komen for the Cure Sacramento Affiliate
Mailing address:
2443 Fair Oaks Blvd, #223
Sacramento, CA 95825
Physical address:
4970 Windplay Drive, Ste. 3
El Dorado Hills, CA 95672
Phone: 916.492.6474
Fax: 916.941.7896
E-mail:
info@komensacramento.org
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