!!The Lasker Awards
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[{Image src='70_250x358.jpg' caption='' height='200' border='1' alt='The Lasker Award'class='image_left'}]
The Lasker Awards are among the most respected science prizes in the world. Since 1945, the Awards Program 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. Lasker Awards often presage future recognition by the Nobel committee, so they have become popularly known as "America's Nobels." Eighty-three Lasker laureates have received the Nobel Prize, including 31 in the last two decades.
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The __Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award__ honors scientists whose fundamental investigations have provided techniques, information, or concepts contributing to the elimination of major causes of disability and death.
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The __Lasker~DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award__ honors investigators whose contributions have improved the clinical treatment of patients.
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The __Lasker~Koshland Special Achievement Award in Medical Science__ honors scientists whose contributions to research are of unique magnitude and have immeasurable influence on the course of science, health, or medicine, and whose professional careers have engendered within the biomedical community the deepest feelings of awe and respect.
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The __Lasker~Bloomberg Public Service Award__ honors men and women who have helped make possible the federal legislation and funding that supports research, and who have created public communication, public health, and advocacy programs of major importance.
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More information at [The Lasker Foundation website|http://www.laskerfoundation.org/index.htm]

!!Academia Europaea Lasker Award Winners
*2012: [Roy Calne|User/Calne_Roy], __Lasker~DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award__, for the development of liver transplantation, which has restored normal life to thousands of patients with end-stage liver disease.
*2010: [David Weatherall|User/Weatherall_David], __Lasker~Koshland Special Achievement Award in Medical Science__, for 50 years of international statesmanship in biomedical science—exemplified by discoveries concerning genetic diseases of the blood and for leadership in improving clinical care for thousands of children with thalassemia throughout the developing world.
*2009: [John Gurdon|User/Gurdon_John], for discoveries concerning nuclear reprogramming, the process that instructs specialized adult cells to form early stem cells — creating the potential to become any type of mature cell for experimental or therapeutic purposes.
*2008: [David Baulcombe|User/Baulcombe_David], for discoveries that revealed an unanticipated world of tiny RNAs that regulate gene function in plants and animals.
*2005: [Alec Jeffreys|User/Jeffreys_Alec], For development of two powerful technologies—Southern hybridization and DNA fingerprinting—that together revolutionized human genetics and forensic diagnostics.
*2004: [Pierre Chambon|User/Chambon_Pierre], for the discovery of the superfamily of nuclear hormone receptors and elucidation of a unifying mechanism that regulates embryonic development and diverse metabolic pathways. 
*2001: [Robert Edwards|User/Edwards_Robert], for the development of in vitro fertilization, a technological advance that has revolutionized the treatment of human infertility.
*2000: [Sydney Brenner|User/Brenner_Sydney], __Albert Lasker Award for Special Achievement in Medical Science__ for 50 years of brilliant creativity in biomedical science—exemplified by his legendary work on the genetic code; his daring introduction of the roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans as a system for tracing the birth and death of every cell in a living animal; his rational voice in the debate on recombinant DNA; and his trenchant wit.
*2000: [Aaron J. Ciechanover|User/Ciechanover_Aaron], for the discovery and the recognition of the significance of the ubiquitin system of regulated protein degradation, a fundamental process that influences vital cellular events, including the cell cycle, malignant transformation, and responses to inflammation and immunity.
*2000: [Alexander Varshavsky|User/Varshavsky_Alexander], for the discovery and the recognition of the significance of the ubiquitin system of regulated protein degradation, a fundamental process that influences vital cellular events, including the cell cycle, malignant transformation, and responses to inflammation and immunity.
*1998: [Paul Nurse|User/Nurse_Paul], for pioneering genetic and molecular studies that revealed the universal machinery for regulating cell division in all eukaryotic organisms, from yeasts to frogs to human beings.
*1993: [Günter Blobel|User/Blobel_Günter], for landmark discoveries concerning the processes by which intercellular proteins are targeted across cell membranes.
*1991: [Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard|User/Nüsslein-Volhard_Christiane], for charting new paths in developmental biology through investigations which led to the discovery of nearly all genes responsible for organizing basic body patterns.
*1989: [Etienne Baulieu|User/Baulieu_Etienne], for his contributions to the broad field of steroid hormone biosynthesis, metabolism, and receptors, and for developing RU 486, the first safe, effective contragestive medication. 
*1989: [Michael Berridge|User/Berridge_Michael], for his masterful research revealing how IP3 governs the intracellular level of calcium and orchestrates the major activities of the cell.
*1988: [Thomas R. Cech|User/Cech_Thomas], for his revolutionary research revealing the enzymatic role of RNA, opening a new universe in molecular biology.
*1986: [Luc Montagnier|User/Montagnier_Luc], for detecting a retrovirus later identified as the cause of AIDS. 
*1986: [Rita Levi-Montalcini|User/Levi-Montalcini_Rita], for her original concept that cell growth is governed by soluble substances, and for the discovery of nerve growth factor (NGF). 
*1982: [J. Michael Bishop|User/Bishop_John], for his elegant elucidation of the nature of oncogenes, and his contribution to the discovery that these genes are present in normal cells.
*1977: [Bengt Samuelsson|User/Samuelsson_Bengt], for his exceptional accomplishments in elucidating the mechanism of the biosynthesis of prostaglandins, analyzing their metabolism, and developing new methods for their measurement. 
*1976: [James Black|User/Black_James], for development of propranolol in the treatment of heart diseases
*1960: [James Watson|User/Watson_James], for their contribution in revealing the structure of the DNA model.
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