Lasker Awards

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has a long, rich tradition of support for award-winning, cutting-edge research. Many of the world’s most distinguished investigators have been honored with medicine’s top prizes, including the Nobel Prize and awards from the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation — “America’s Nobels” — honoring groundbreaking contributions to our understanding of human disease. The NIH’s Lasker awardees — 214 to date — fall into several categories: (1) extramural researchers, who conduct research at outside institutions with support from the NIH; (2) intramural researchers , who work or who trained in NIH laboratories; (3) institutional award recipients, such as the NIH Clinical Center, the 2011 recipient of the Foundation’s Lasker-Bloomberg Public Service Award; and (4) individuals honored for intramural and extramural research carried out over the span of their career.

Lasker Clinical Research Scholars Program

The NIH also sponsors the Lasker Clinical Research Scholars Program with the Lasker Foundation, a partnership designed to develop future generations of clinical researchers by supporting the early-stage careers of independent clinical investigators. For more information about the program, visit http://www.nih.gov/research-training/lasker-clinical-research-scholars and http://irp.nih.gov/catalyst/v23i3/lasker-clinical-research-scholars .

NIH Lasker Award Recipients

* = Extramural
‡ = Intramural

Award DateAwardeeAward TypeAward information
2022Richard O. Hynes*
Massachusetts Institute of Technology		Basic Medical Research AwardFor discoveries concerning integrins – key mediators of cell-matrix and cell-cell interactions in physiology and disease.
2022Erkki Ruoslahti*
Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute		Basic Medical Research AwardFor discoveries concerning integrins – key mediators of cell-matrix and cell-cell interactions in physiology and disease.
2022Timothy A. Springer* Boston Children’s HospitalBasic Medical Research AwardFor discoveries concerning integrins – key mediators of cell-matrix and cell-cell interactions in physiology and disease.
2021Karl Deisseroth*
Stanford University		Basic Medical Research AwardFor the discovery of light-sensitive microbial proteins that can activate or silence individual brain cells and for their use in developing optogenetics—a revolutionary technique for neuroscience.
2021Katalin Karikó*
BioNTech		Clinical Medical Research AwardFor the discovery of a new therapeutic technology based on the modification of messenger RNA—enabling rapid development of highly effective Covid-19 vaccines.
2021Drew Weissman*
University of Pennsylvania		Clinical Medical Research AwardFor the discovery of a new therapeutic technology based on the modification of messenger RNA—enabling rapid development of highly effective Covid-19 vaccines.
2021David Baltimore*
California Institute of Technology		Special Achievement Award in Medical ScienceAs one of the premier biomedical scientists of the last five decades, he is renowned for the breadth and beauty of his discoveries in virology, immunology, and cancer; for his academic leadership; for his mentorship of prominent scientists; and for his influence as a public advocate for science.
2019Max D. Cooper*
Emory University School of Medicine		Basic Medical Research AwardFor their discovery of the two distinct classes of lymphocytes, B and T cells – a monumental achievement that provided the organizing principle of the adaptive immune system and launched the course of modern immunology.
2019Dennis J. Slamon*
University of California, Los Angeles		Clinical Medical Research AwardFor their invention of Herceptin, the first monoclonal antibody that blocks a cancer-causing protein, and for its development as a life-saving therapy for women with breast cancer.
2018C. David Allis*
The Rockefeller University		Basic Medical Research AwardFor discoveries elucidating how gene expression is influenced by chemical modification of histones—the proteins that package DNA within chromosomes.
2018Michael Grunstein*
University of California, Los Angeles		Basic Medical Research AwardFor discoveries elucidating how gene expression is influenced by chemical modification of histones—the proteins that package DNA within chromosomes.
2018Joan Argetsinger Steitz*
Yale University		Special Achievement Award in Medical ScienceFor four decades of leadership in biomedical science—exemplified by pioneering discoveries in RNA biology, generous mentorship of budding scientists, and vigorous and passionate support of women in science.
2017Douglas R. Lowy‡
National Cancer Institute (NCI) Center for Cancer Research (CCR)		Clinical Medical Research AwardFor technological advances that enabled development of human papillomaviruses (HPV) vaccines for prevention of cervical cancer and other tumors caused by HPV.
2017John T. Schiller‡
National Cancer Institute (NCI) Center for Cancer Research (CCR)		Clinical Medical Research AwardFor technological advances that enabled development of human papillomaviruses (HPV) vaccines for prevention of cervical cancer and other tumors caused by HPV.
2016Bruce M. Alberts*
University of California, San Francisco		Special Achievement Award in Medical ScienceFor fundamental discoveries in DNA replication and protein biochemistry; for visionary leadership in directing national and international scientific organizations to better people’s lives; and for passionate dedication to improving education in science and mathematics.
2016William G. Kaelin, Jr.*
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute/Harvard Medical School		Basic Medical Research AwardFor the discovery of the pathway by which cells from humans and most animals sense and adapt to changes in oxygen availability – a process essential for survival.
2016Gregg L. Semenza *
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine		Basic Medical Research AwardFor the discovery of the pathway by which cells from humans and most animals sense and adapt to changes in oxygen availability – a process essential for survival.
2016Michael J. Sofia*
formerly at Pharmasset; now at Arbutus Biopharma		Clinical Medical Research AwardFor development of a system to study the replication of the virus that causes hepatitis C and for use of this system to revolutionize the treatment of this chronic, often lethal disease.
2015James P. Allison*
University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center		Clinical Medical Research AwardFor the discovery and development of a monoclonal antibody therapy that unleashes the immune system to combat cancer.
2015Stephen J. Elledge*
Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital		Basic Medical Research AwardFor discoveries concerning the DNA-damage response—a fundamental mechanism that protects the genomes of all living organisms.
2014Mary-Claire King*
University of Washington		Special Achievement Award in Medical ScienceFor bold, imaginative, and diverse contributions to medical science and human rights — she discovered the BRCA1 gene locus that causes hereditary breast cancer and deployed DNA strategies that reunite missing persons or their remains with their families.
2014Peter Walter*
University of California, San Francisco		Basic Medical Research AwardFor discoveries concerning the unfolded protein response — an intracellular quality control system that detects harmful misfolded proteins in the endoplasmic reticulum and signals the nucleus to carry out corrective measures.
2014Mahlon R. DeLong*
Emory University School of Medicine		Clinical Medical Research AwardFor the development of deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus, a surgical technique that reduces tremors and restores motor function in patients with advanced Parkinson's disease.
2013Graeme M. Clark*
University of Melbourne		Clinical Medical Research AwardFor the development of the modern cochlear implant — a device that bestows hearing to individuals with profound deafness.
2013Richard H. Scheller*
Genentech		Basic Medical Research AwardFor discoveries concerning the molecular machinery and regulatory mechanism that underlie the rapid release of neurotransmitters.
2013Thomas C. Südhof*
Stanford University School of Medicine		Basic Medical Research AwardFor discoveries concerning the molecular machinery and regulatory mechanism that underlie the rapid release of neurotransmitters.
2013Blake S. Wilson*
Duke University		Clinical Medical Research AwardFor the development of the modern cochlear implant — a device that bestows hearing to individuals with profound deafness.
2012Donald D. Brown*
Carnegie Institution of Washington, Department of Embryology		Special Achievement in Medical ScienceFor exceptional leadership and citizenship in biomedical science — exemplified by fundamental discoveries concerning the nature of genes; by selfless commitment to young scientists; and by disseminating revolutionary technologies to the scientific community.
2012Roy Calne*
University of Cambridge		Clinical Medical Research AwardFor the development of liver transplantation, which has restored normal life to thousands of patients with end-stage liver disease.
2012Thomas Maniatis*
Columbia University, Department of Biochemistry & Biophysics		Special Achievement Award in Medical ScienceFor exceptional leadership and citizenship in biomedical science — exemplified by fundamental discoveries concerning the nature of genes; by selfless commitment to young scientists; and by disseminating revolutionary technologies to the scientific community.
2012Michael Sheetz*
Columbia University, Department of Biological Sciences		Basic Medical Research AwardFor discoveries concerning cytoskeletal motor proteins, machines that move cargoes within cells, contract muscles, and enable cell movements.
2012James Spudich*
Stanford University School of Medicine		Basic Medical Research AwardFor discoveries concerning cytoskeletal motor proteins, machines that move cargoes within cells, contract muscles, and enable cell movements.
2012Thomas E. Starzl*
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute		Clinical Medical Research AwardFor the development of liver transplantation, which has restored normal life to thousands of patients with end-stage liver disease.
2012Ronald Vale*
University of California, San Francisco (UCSF)		Basic Medical Research AwardFor discoveries concerning cytoskeletal motor proteins, machines that move cargoes within cells, contract muscles, and enable cell movements.
2011Franz-Ulrich Hartl*
Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, Department of Cellular Biochemistry		Basic Medical Research AwardFor discoveries concerning the cell's protein-folding machinery, exemplified by cage-like structures that convert newly made proteins into their biologically active forms.
2011Arthur L. Horwich*
Yale University School of Medicine, Department of Genetics		Basic Medical Research AwardFor discoveries concerning the cell's protein-folding machinery, exemplified by cage-like structures that convert newly made proteins into their biologically active forms.
2011NIH‡Lasker-Bloomberg, Public ServiceFor serving since its inception as a model research hospital — providing innovative therapy and high-quality patient care, treating rare and severe diseases, and producing outstanding physician-scientists whose collective work has set a standard of excellence in biomedical research.
2010Douglas L. Coleman*
Jackson Laboratory		Basic Medical Research AwardFor the discovery of leptin, a hormone that regulates appetite and body weight—a breakthrough that opened obesity research to molecular exploration.
2010Napoleone Ferrara*
Genentech, Inc., Department of Molecular Oncology		Clinical Medical Research AwardFor the discovery of VEGF as a major mediator of angiogenesis and the development of an effective anti-VEGF therapy for wet macular degeneration, a leading cause of blindness in the elderly.
2010Jeffrey M. Friedman*
Rockefeller University, Laboratory of Molecular Genetics		Basic Medical Research AwardFor the discovery of leptin, a hormone that regulates appetite and body weight—a breakthrough that opened obesity research to molecular exploration.
2010David J. Weatherall*
Oxford University, Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine		Special Achievement Award in Medical ScienceFor 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.
2009Brian J. Druker*
Oregon Health & Science University, Knight Cancer Institute		Clinical Medical Research AwardFor the development of molecularly-targeted treatments for chronic myeloid leukemia, converting a fatal cancer into a manageable chronic condition.
2009Charles L. Sawyers*
Sloan-Kettering- Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center		Clinical Medical Research AwardFor the development of molecularly-targeted treatments for chronic myeloid leukemia, converting a fatal cancer into a manageable chronic condition.
2009Shinya Yamanaka*
Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences, Kyoto University		Basic Medical Research AwardFor 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.
2008Victor R. Ambros*
University of Massachusetts Medical School, Department of Molecular Medicine		Basic Medical Research AwardFor discoveries that revealed an unanticipated world of tiny RNAs that regulate gene function in plants and animals
2008David C. Baulcombe*
University of Cambridge, Department of Plant Sciences		Basic Medical Research AwardFor discoveries that revealed an unanticipated world of tiny RNAs that regulate gene function in plants and animals.
2008Stanley Falkow*
Stanford University School of Medicine		Special Achievement Award in Medical ScienceFor a 51-year career as one of the great microbe hunters of all time — he discovered the molecular nature of antibiotic resistance, revolutionized the way we think about how pathogens cause disease, and mentored more than 100 students, many of whom are now distinguished leaders in the fields of microbiology and infectious diseases
2008Gary B. Ruvkun*
Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital		Basic Medical Research AwardFor discoveries that revealed an unanticipated world of tiny RNAs that regulate gene function in plants and animals.
2007Albert Starr*
Providence Health and Services		Clinical Medical Research AwardFor the development of prosthetic mitral and aortic valves, which have prolonged and enhanced the lives of millions of people with heart disease.
2007Ralph Marvin Steinman*
Rockefeller University		Basic Medical Research AwardFor the discovery of dendritic cells—the preeminent component of the immune system that initiates and regulates the body's response to foreign antigens.
2007Anthony S. Fauci‡
NIH		Public Service AwardFor his role as the principal architect of two major U.S. governmental programs, one aimed at AIDS and the other at biodefense.
2006Aaron T. Beck*
University of Pennsylvania, Department of Psychiatry		Clinical Medical Research AwardFor the development of cognitive therapy, which has transformed the understanding and treatment of many psychiatric conditions, including depression, suicidal behavior, generalized anxiety, panic attacks, and eating disorders.
2006Elizabeth H. Blackburn*
UCSF, Department of Biochemistry & Biophysics		Basic Medical Research AwardFor the prediction and discovery of telomerase, a remarkable RNA-containing enzyme that synthesizes the ends of chromosomes, protecting them and maintaining the integrity of the genome.
2006Joseph G. Gall*
Carnegie Institution for Science, Department of Embryology		Special Achievement in Medical ScienceFor a distinguished 57-year career—as a founder of modern cell biology and the field of chromosome structure and function; bold experimentalist; inventor of in situ hybridization; and early champion of women in science.
2006Carol W. Greider*
JHU School of Medicine, Department of Molecular Biology & Genetics		Basic Medical Research AwardFor the prediction and discovery of telomerase, a remarkable RNA-containing enzyme that synthesizes the ends of chromosomes, protecting them and maintaining the integrity of the genome
2006Jack W. Szostak*
Harvard Medical School		Basic Medical Research AwardFor the prediction and discovery of telomerase, a remarkable RNA-containing enzyme that synthesizes the ends of chromosomes, protecting them and maintaining the integrity of the genome.
2004Ronald M. Evans*
Salk Institute for Biological Studies		Basic Medical Research AwardFor the discovery of the superfamily of nuclear hormone receptors and elucidation of a unifying mechanism that regulates embryonic development and diverse metabolic pathways.
2004Elwood V. Jensen*
University of Cincinnati Medical Center, Vontz Center for Molecular Studies		Basic Medical Research AwardFor the discovery of the superfamily of nuclear hormone receptors and elucidation of a unifying mechanism that regulates embryonic development and diverse metabolic pathways.
2004Matthew Stanley Meselson*
Harvard University, Department of Molecular & Cell Biology		Special Achievement Award in Medical ScienceFor a lifetime career that combines penetrating discovery in molecular biology with creative leadership in the public policy of chemical and biological weapons.
2003Marc Feldmann*
Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology, Imperial College London		Clinical Medical Research AwardFor discovery of anti-TNF therapy as an effective treatment for rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases.
2003Robert G. Roeder*
Rockefeller University		Basic Medical Research AwardFor pioneering studies on eukaryotic RNA polymerases and the general transcriptional machinery, which opened gene expression in animal cells to biochemical analysis.
2002James E. Darnell, Jr.*
Rockefeller University		Special Achievement in Medical ScienceFor an exceptional career in biomedical science during which he opened two fields in biology — RNA processing and cytokine signaling — and fostered the development of many creative scientists.
2002Willem J. Kolff*
University of Utah School of Medicine		Clinical Medical Research AwardFor the development of renal hemodialysis, which changed kidney failure from a fatal to a treatable disease, prolonging the useful lives of millions of patients.
2002James E. Rothman*
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center		Basic Medical Research AwardFor discoveries revealing the universal machinery that orchestrates the budding and fusion of membrane vesicles — a process essential to organelle formation, nutrient uptake, and secretion of hormones and neurotransmitters.
2002Randy W. Schekman*
University of California, Berkeley, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology		Basic Medical Research AwardFor discoveries revealing the universal machinery that orchestrates the budding and fusion of membrane vesicles — a process essential to organelle formation, nutrient uptake, and secretion of hormones and neurotransmitters.
2002Belding H. Scribner*
University of Washington		Clinical Medical Research AwardFor the development of renal hemodialysis, which changed kidney failure from a fatal to a treatable disease, prolonging the useful lives of millions of patients.
2001Mario R. Capecchi*
University of Utah, Department of Human Genetics		Basic Medical Research AwardFor the development of a powerful technology for manipulating the mouse genome with exquisite precision, which allows the creation of animal models of human disease
2001Oliver Smithies*
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill		Basic Medical Research AwardFor the development of a powerful technology for manipulating the mouse genome with exquisite precision, which allows the creation of animal models of human disease.
2000Harold P. Freeman*
American Cancer Society		Mary Woodard Lasker Award
for Public Service		For enlightening scientists and the public about the relationship between race, poverty and cancer.
2000Avram Hershko*
Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Department of Biochemistry		Basic Medical Research AwardFor 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.
2000Michael Houghton*
Chiron Corporation		Clinical Medical Research AwardFor pioneering work leading to the discovery of the virus that causes hepatitis C and the development of screening methods that reduced the risk of blood transfusion-associated hepatitis in the U.S. from 30 percent in 1970 to virtually zero in 2000.
2000Alexander J. Varshavsky*
California Institute of Technology, Division of Biology		Basic Medical Research AwardFor 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.
2000Harvey J. Alter‡
NIH		Clinical Medical Research AwardFor pioneering work leading to the discovery of the virus that causes hepatitis C and the development of screening methods that reduced the risk of blood transfusion-associated hepatitis in the U.S. from 30 percent in 1970 to virtually zero in 2000.
1999Clay M. Armstrong*
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Department of Physiology		Basic Medical Research AwardFor elucidating the functional and structural architecture of ion channel proteins, which govern the electrical potential of membranes throughout nature, thereby generating nerve impulses and controlling muscle contraction, cardiac rhythm, and hormone secretion.
1999Bertil Hille*
University of Washington School of Medicine, Department of Physiology & Biophysics		Basic Medical Research AwardFor elucidating the functional and structural architecture of ion channel proteins, which govern the electrical potential of membranes throughout nature, thereby generating nerve impulses and controlling muscle contraction, cardiac rhythm, and hormone secretion.
1999Roderick MacKinnon*
Rockefeller University		Basic Medical Research AwardFor elucidating the functional and structural architecture of ion channel proteins, which govern the electrical potential of membranes throughout nature, thereby generating nerve impulses and controlling muscle contraction, cardiac rhythm, and hormone secretion.
1999Seymour Solomon Kety‡
Harvard Medical School		Special Achievement in Medical ScienceFor a lifetime of contributions to neuroscience — including discovery of a method for measuring cerebral blood flow that led to current brain imaging techniques, adoptive studies in schizophrenia that established its genetic origin, and visionary leadership in mental health that ushered psychiatry into the molecular era.
1998Leland ("Lee") Hartwell*
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center		Basic Medical Research AwardFor 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.
1998Alfred G. Knudson*
Fox Chase Cancer Center		Clinical Medical Research AwardFor incisive studies in patient-oriented research that paved the way for identifying genetic alterations that cause cancer in humans and that allow for cancer diagnosis in patients at the molecular level.
1998Peter C. Nowell*
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine		Clinical Medical Research AwardFor incisive studies in patient-oriented research that paved the way for identifying genetic alterations that cause cancer in humans and that allow for cancer diagnosis in patients at the molecular level.
1998Janet D. Rowley*
University of Chicago Medical Center		Clinical Medical Research AwardFor incisive studies in patient-oriented research that paved the way for identifying genetic alterations that cause cancer in humans and that allow for cancer diagnosis in patients at the molecular level.
1997Victor A. McKusick*
Johns Hopkins University		Special Achievement Award in Medical ScienceFor a lifetime career as founder of the discipline of clinical genetics.
1997Mark S. Ptashne*
Harvard University		Basic Medical Research AwardFor elegant and incisive discoveries leading to the understanding of how regulatory proteins control the transcription of genes.
1997Alfred Sommer*
Johns Hopkins UniversityBloomberg School of Public Health		Clinical Medical Research AwardFor the understanding and demonstration that low-dose vitamin A supplementation in millions of third world children can prevent death from infectious diseases as well as blindness.
1996Porter Warren Anderson, Jr.*
University of Rochester Medical School, Department of Pediatrics & Microbiology		Clinical Medical Research AwardFor groundbreaking work and bold, visionary and imaginative leadership in the development and commercialization of the Hemophilus influenzae type b vaccine and bringing the vaccine to market, leading to the eradication of Hemophilus influenzae type b, typhoid, and pneumococcus.
1996Robert F. Furchgott*
State University of New York Health Science Center at Brooklyn (SUNY)		Basic Medical Research AwardFor the landmark discovery of endothelium-derived relaxing factor (EDRF), now known to be nitric oxide, and other research findings that have profound implications for the treatment of cardiovascular conditions and other diseases.
1996Ferid Murad*
GWU Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology (Molecular Geriatrics Corporation)		Basic Medical Research AwardFor ingenious elucidation of the cyclic GMP signaling pathway of nitric oxide and for essential discoveries that led to establishing the link between endothelium-derived relaxing factor and nitric oxide.
1996Paul C. Zamecnik*
Worcester Foundation for Biomedical Research		Special Achievement Award in Medical ScienceFor brilliant and original science that revolutionized biochemistry and spawned new avenues of scientific inquiry.
1996John B. Robbins‡
NIH		Clinical Medical Research AwardFor groundbreaking work and bold, visionary and imaginative leadership in the development and commercialization of the Hemophilus influenzae type b vaccine and bringing the vaccine to market, leading to the eradication of Hemophilus influenzae type b, typhoid, and pneumococcus.
1996Rachel Schneerson‡
NIH		Clinical Medical Research AwardFor groundbreaking work and bold, visionary and imaginative leadership in the development and commercialization of the Hemophilus influenzae type b vaccine and bringing the vaccine to market, leading to the eradication of Hemophilus influenzae type b, typhoid, and pneumococcus.
1995Peter C. Doherty*
University of Melbourne, Department of Immunology and Microbiology (St. Jude Children's Research Hospital)		Basic Medical Research AwardFor the epochal discovery of MHC restriction of T-cell recognition and the single T-cell receptor altered-self hypothesis.
1995Jack L. Strominger*
Harvard University, Department of Molecular & Cellular Biology		Basic Medical Research AwardFor pioneering the isolation of and solution to the structures of class I and class II MHC proteins and their peptide complexes.
1995Emil R. Unanue*
Washington University, Department of Pathology and Immunology		Basic Medical Research AwardFor seminal discoveries in antigen processing and MHC-peptide binding which deciphered the biochemical basis of T-cell recognition.
1995Don C. Wiley*
Harvard University		Basic Medical Research AwardFor visualizing the three-dimensional structures of class I and class II proteins and their complexes with antigens and superantigens.
1995Rolf M. Zinkernagel*
University Hospital of Zurich, Institute of Experimental Immunology		Basic Medical Research AwardFor the landmark discovery of MHC restriction of T-cell recognition, and the altered-self hypothesis.
1994John A. Clements*
UCSF, Department of Pediatrics and Neonatology		Clinical Medical Research AwardFor his brilliant studies defining and describing the role of pulmonary surfactant and in developing a life-saving artificial surfactant now used in premature infants around the world.
1994Stanley B. Prusiner*
UCSF Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases		Basic Medical Research AwardFor landmark, revolutionary work that established the existence of an entirely new class of infectious agents, and which opened new understanding of the pathogenesis of several baffling neurodegenerative diseases.
1993Günter Blobel*
Rockefeller University, Laboratory of Cell Biology		Basic Medical Research AwardFor landmark discoveries concerning the processes by which intercellular proteins are targeted across cell membranes.
1993Donald Metcalf*
Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Division of Cancer & Haematology		Clinical Medical Research AwardFor his outstanding discovery of the colony-stimulating factors, two of which are widely used to treat patients with cancer and diseases of blood cell formation.
1993Nancy S. Wexler*
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons		Public Service AwardFor her groundbreaking work in the scientific and public arenas towards finding a cure for Huntington's disease and for increasing awareness of all genetic disease.
1991Yuet Wai Kan*
UCSF Depts. of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine		Clinical Medical Research AwardFor his pivotal contributions to the development of human genetics, most importantly in the area of the hemoglobinopathies using recombinant DNA technology.
1991Edward B. Lewis*
California Institute of Technology		Basic Medical Research AwardFor fundamental research on the Bithorax complex, which established the role of homeotic genes in the development of cell patterns and provided a foundation for current studies of embryonic development.
1989Alfred G. Gilman*
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center		Basic Medical Research AwardFor his pioneering studies of signal transduction and for his discovery that G-proteins carry signals that regulate vital processes within cells.
1989Edwin G. Krebs*
University of Washington School of Medicine		Basic Medical Research AwardFor his seminal finding that phosphorylation activates major enzymes in cells, and for perceiving the profound importance of protein kinase enzymes.
1988Thomas R. Cech*
University of Colorado at Boulder, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry		Basic Medical Research AwardFor his revolutionary research revealing the enzymatic role of RNA, opening a new universe in molecular biology.
1988Vincent P. Dole*
Rockefeller University		Clinical Medical Research AwardFor postulating the physiological basis of narcotic addiction and for developing methadone treatment for heroin addiction.
1988Phillip A. Sharp*
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Center for Cancer Research		Basic Medical Research AwardFor his series of revelations regarding the ability of RNA processing to convert DNA's massive store of genetic data to biological use.
1987Leroy E. Hood*
California Institute of Technology		Basic Medical Research AwardFor his prolific and imaginative studies of somatic recombination in the immune system, detailing in molecular terms the genetics of antibody diversity.
1987Susumu Tonegawa*
Massachusetts Institute of Technology		Basic Medical Research AwardFor brilliantly demonstrating that the DNA responsible for antibody production is routinely reshuffled to create new genes during the lifetime of an individual.
1987Philip Leder‡
Harvard Medical School, Department of Genetics		Basic Medical Research AwardFor his elegant genetic studies, particularly in carcinogenesis, and for developing transgenic laboratory animals for the study of cancer and other diseases.
1987NIH‡Special Public Health Award (centennial, leadership in biomedical research)For 100 years of leadership in biomedical research, establishing the pre-eminence of the United States in the fight against death, disease and disability.
1986Stanley Cohen*
Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Department of Biochemistry		Basic Medical Research AwardFor discovering and biochemically defining epidermal growth factor (EGF), which illuminated the dynamics of cell growth.
1986Myron E. Essex*
Harvard School of Public Health, Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases		Clinical Medical Research AwardFor his creative research on the impact of retroviral infection on the human immune system.
1986Rita Levi-Montalcini*
Institute of Cell Biology		Basic Medical Research AwardFor her original concept that cell growth is governed by soluble substances, and for the discovery of nerve growth factor (NGF).
1986Robert C. Gallo‡
NIH		Clinical Medical Research AwardFor determining that the retrovirus now known as HIV-1 is the cause of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS).
1985Michael D. Brown*
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (The University of Texas Health Science Center at Dallas)		Basic Medical Research AwardDupe?
1985Michael S. Brown*
UT Southwestern Medical Center, Department of Molecular Genetics		Basic Medical Research AwardFor their historic discovery of the basic mechanisms controlling cholesterol metabolism, opening the way to a new pharmacologic approach to the treatment of cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death and disability in the Western world.
1985Bernard Fisher*
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine		Clinical Medical Research AwardFor his profound influence in shaping the character of modern breast cancer treatment, thus lengthening and enriching the lives of women suffering from this dread disease
1985Joseph L. Goldstein*
University of Texas Health Science Center at Dallas, Department of Molecular Genetics		Basic Medical Research AwardFor their historic discovery of the basic mechanisms controlling cholesterol metabolism, opening the way to a new pharmacologic approach to the treatment of cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death and disability in the Western world.
1984Paul C. Lauterbur*
State University of New York at Stony Brook (SUNY)		Clinical Medical Research AwardFor his theoretical and technical contributions which made possible a new form of medical imaging based on nuclear magnetic resonance.
1984Michael Potter‡
NIH		Basic Medical Research AwardFor his fundamental research into the genetics of immunoglobulin molecules, paving the way for the development of hybridomas.
1983Eric R. Kandel*
Columbia University, Department of Neuroscience		Basic Medical Research AwardFor his brilliant application of cell biology techniques to the study of behavior, revealing the mechanisms underlying learning and memory.
1983Saul Krugman*
New York University		Public Service AwardFor his persistent leadership in conceiving, developing and testing vaccines against various viral diseases, especially hepatitis B, with vast impact on world health.
1983Vernon B. Mountcastle*
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine		Basic Medical Research AwardFor his original discoveries which illuminate the brain's ability to perceive and organize information, and to translate sensory impulses into behavior.
1982J. Michael Bishop*
UCSF Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics		Basic Medical Research AwardFor his elegant elucidation of the nature of oncogenes, and his contribution to the discovery that these genes are present in normal cells.
1982Raymond L. Erikson*
Harvard University Medical School		Basic Medical Research AwardFor his contributions to the first identification and functional characterization of the protein products of oncogenes, thus providing a clearer understanding of cell growth and regulation
1982Robert C. Gallo*‡
NIH		Basic Medical Research AwardFor his pioneering studies that led to the discovery of the first human RNA tumor virus and its association with certain leukemias and lymphomas
1982Hidesaburo Hanafusa*
Rockefeller University		Basic Medical Research AwardFor demonstrating how RNA tumor viruses cause cancer, and elucidating their role in combining, rescuing and maintaining oncogenes in the viral genome.
1982Roscoe O. Brady‡
NIH		Clinical Medical Research AwardFor his pioneering contribution to the understanding of hereditary diseases, the development of effective genetic counseling procedures, and initiation of possible treatment by replacement of missing enzymes.
1982Elizabeth F. Neufeld‡
NIH		Clinical Medical Research AwardFor clarifying the molecular basis and diagnosis of certain hereditary lysosomal storage disorders that may cause growth abnormalities, mental retardation, blindness, deafness and death.
1982Harold E. Varmus‡
NIH		Basic Medical Research AwardFor his creative and successful pursuit toward the identification of the cellular oncogenes and their control.
1981Louis E. Sokoloff‡
NIH		Clinical Medical Research AwardFor developing a pioneering method which enables scientists to visualize the simultaneous biochemical activity of an entire network of neural pathways in the brain and central nervous system.
1980Paul Berg*
Stanford University School of Medicine, Department of Biochemistry		Basic Medical Research AwardFor his key, historic achievements which made recombinant DNA a brilliant reality, and inaugurated a new age of biomedical promise.
1980Herbert W. Boyer*
UCSF School of Medicine, Department of Biochemistry & Biophysics		Basic Medical Research AwardFor his brilliant contributions to recombinant DNA methodology, particularly in enzymology, plasmids, and in application of synthetic DNA.
1980Stanley N. Cohen*
Stanford School of Medicine, Department of Genetics		Basic Medical Research AwardFor his splendid contributions to recombinant DNA methodology, and for accomplishing the first transplantation of genes between cells.
1980Vincent J. Freda*
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons		Clinical Medical Research AwardFor his vital clinical research in developing an anti-Rh vaccine, which promises the conquest of hemolytic disease of the newborn.
1980A. Dale Kaiser*
Stanford University School of Medicine, Department of Biochemistry		Basic Medical Research AwardFor his crucial role in creating recombinant DNA methodology through his pathbreaking studies of cohesive single-stranded DNA.
1980NIH‡Special Public Health AwardPresented to the NHLBI for its Hypertension Detection and Follow-Up Program, standing alone among clinical studies in its profound potential benefits to millions
1979Walter Gilbert*
Harvard University		Basic Medical Research AwardFor their brilliant development of a new technique for the rapid sequencing of DNA.
1978Robert Austrian*
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine		Clinical Medical Research AwardFor his perseverance in the development and clear demonstration of the efficacy of a purified vaccine of capsular polysaccharides in the prevention of pneumococcal diseases
1978Theodore Cooper*
Cornell University- Weill Cornell Medical College (Cornell University Medical College)		Public Service AwardFor implementing in 1972 the National High Blood Pressure Education Program, which has contributed significantly to the reduction in deaths from stroke, kidney and heart diseases.
1978Emil C. Gotschlich*
Rockefeller University, Laboratory of Bacterial Pathogenesis		Clinical Medical Research AwardFor his creative leadership in developing, and then demonstrating the effectiveness of a purified capsular polysaccharide vaccine in preventing meningococcal diseases.
1978Hans W. Kosterlitz*
University of Aberdeen		Basic Medical Research AwardFor his pioneering work in identifying the relation of the opiate receptors to the naturally occurring enkephalins.
1978Solomon H. Snyder*
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Department of Neuroscience		Basic Medical Research AwardFor his pioneering work in identifying the opiate receptors and the demonstration of their relation to the enkephalins.
1976Raymond P. Ahlquist*
Georgia Health Sciences University Medical College of Georgia (Medical College of Georgia)		Clinical Medical Research AwardFor his concept of alpha and beta receptors, which opened the door to the development of propranolol, a milestone drug in the treatment of heart diseases and severe high blood pressure.
1976Rosalyn Yalow*
Veterans Administration; Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, City University of New York (CUNY)		Basic Medical Research AwardFor the discovery and development of the technique of radioimmunoassay.
1975Frank J. Dixon*
Scripps Research Institute (Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation)		Basic Medical Research AwardFor their outstanding contribution to the creation of a new medical discipline, immunopathology.
1975Roger C.L. Guillemin*
Salk Institute for Biological Studies		Basic Medical Research AwardFor research that has expanded our knowledge of the interplay between the hypothalamus and the endocrine system.
1975Henry G. Kunkel*
Rockefeller University		Basic Medical Research AwardFor their outstanding contribution to the creation of a new medical discipline, immunopathology.
1974Sol Spiegelman*
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons		Basic Medical Research AwardFor his contributions to molecular biology, including techniques of molecular hybridization and the first synthesis of an infectious nucleic acid.
1974Howard M. Temin*
University of Wisconsin		Basic Medical Research AwardFor his contributions to the biology of RNA-containing cancer viruses and elucidation of the mode of action of viral genes.
1973William B. Kouwenhoven*
Johns Hopkins University		Clinical Medical Research AwardFor his life-saving development of open and closed chest defibrillators, and for originating the technique of external cardiac massage.
1973Paul M. Zoll*
Harvard Medical School; Beth Israel Hospital		Clinical Medical Research AwardFor his development of the life-saving closed chest defibrillator and the pacemaker.
1972Joseph H. Burchenal*
Memorial Hospital for Cancer and Allied Diseases		Clinical Medical Research AwardFor his outstanding contribution in recognizing the importance of Burkitt's tumor as a model.
1972Isaac Djerassi*
Mercy Catholic Medical Center		Clinical Medical Research AwardFor his outstanding contribution in the supportive care, by platelet transfusion, of patients receiving intensive chemotherapy.
1972Edmund Klein*
Roswell Park Cancer Institute (Roswell Park Memorial Institute)		Clinical Medical Research AwardFor his outstanding contribution in the treatment of premalignant and malignant cancers of the skin.
1972Donald Pinkel*
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital		Clinical Medical Research AwardFor their outstanding contribution to the concept and application of combination therapy in the treatment of acute leukemia in children.
1972Roy Hertz‡
NIH		Clinical Medical Research AwardFor their outstanding contribution to the successful chemotherapeutic treatment of gestational choriocarcinoma.
1972Paul P. Carbone‡
NIH		Clinical Medical Research AwardFor his outstanding contribution to advances in the concept of combination therapy in the treatment of acute leukemia in children.
1972Vincent T. DeVita, Jr.‡
NIH (Yale University School of Medicine)		Clinical Medical Research AwardFor his outstanding contribution to the concept of combination therapy in the treatment of Hodgkin's disease.
1972Emil Freireich‡
University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Adult Leukemia Research Program		Clinical Medical Research AwardFor his outstanding contributions in combination chemotherapy, and in supportive care of patients receiving combination chemotherapy for acute leukemia.
1972Min Li‡Clinical Medical Research AwardFor their outstanding contribution to the successful chemotherapeutic treatment of gestational choriocarcinoma.
1972Eugene J. Van Scott‡
Temple University		Clinical Medical Research AwardFor his outstanding contribution to the concept of topical chemotherapy in the treatment of mycosis fungoides.
1972John L. Ziegler‡
NIH		Clinical Medical Research AwardFor his outstanding contribution in increasing the cure rate of Burkitt's tumor by chemotherapy.
1972C. Gordon Zubrod‡
NIH		Clinical (also listed as a Special Award)Special Award: For his leadership in expanding the frontiers of cancer chemotherapy.
1972Emil J. Frei*‡
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (Children's Cancer Research Foundation)		Clinical Medical Research AwardFor his outstanding contribution in the application of the concept of combination chemotherapy to lymphoma and acute adult leukemia.
1972James F. Holland*‡
Roswell Park Cancer Institute (Roswell Park Memorial Institute)		Clinical Medical Research AwardFor their outstanding contribution to the concept and application of combination therapy in the treatment of acute leukemia in children.
1971Seymour Benzer*
California Institute of Technology		Basic Medical Research AwardFor the brilliant contribution to molecular genetics.
1971Charles Yanofsky*
Stanford University, Department of Biology		Basic Medical Research AwardFor their brilliant contribution to molecular genetics.
1970Robert Good*
University of Minnesota		Clinical Medical Research AwardFor his uniquely important contributions to our understanding of the mechanism of immunity.
1970Earl W. Sutherland*
Vanderbilt University School of Medicine (Vanderbilt University Medical School)		Basic Medical Research AwardFor his discovery of cyclic AMP, and for providing a comprehension of this key chemical mechanism, which regulates hormonal action.
1969George C. Cotzias*
Brookhaven National Laboratory		Clinical Medical Research AwardFor his demonstration of the effectiveness of large daily dosages of L-DOPA in the treatment of Parkinson's disease.
1968Marshall Warren Nirenberg‡
NIH		Basic Medical Research AwardFor their contributions toward deciphering the genetic code.
1968William F. Windle‡
New York University Lagone Medical Center (New York University Medical Center)		Basic Medical Research AwardFor his basic discoveries in the field of developmental biology.
1967Bernard B. Brodie‡
NIH		Basic Medical Research AwardFor his extraordinary contributions to biochemical pharmacology.
1966Sidney Farber*
Dana-Farber Caner Institute (Children's Cancer Research Foundation); Children's Hospital Boston (Harvard Medical School at the Children's Hospital)		Clinical Medical Research AwardFor his original use of aminopterin and methotrexate in the control of acute childhood leukemia, and for his constant leadership in the search for chemical agents against cancer.
1966George E. Palade*
Rockefeller University		Basic Medical Research AwardFor his fundamental contributions to the electron microscopy of biological materials.
1965Robert Holley*
Cornell University		Basic Medical Research AwardFor determining for the first time the chemical structure of an amino acid transfer RNA.
1965Albert B. Sabin*
University of Cincinnati College of Medicine		Clinical Medical Research AwardFor the development of a live, oral poliovirus vaccine.
1964Renato Dulbecco*
Salk Institute of Biological Studies		Basic Medical Research AwardFor their fundamental contributions to our knowledge of the relationship between cancer and cancer-producing DNA and RNA viruses.
1964Nathan S. Kline*
Rockland Psychiatric Center (Rockland State Hospital)		Clinical Medical Research AwardFor the introduction and use of iproniazid in the treatment of severe depression.
1964Harry B. Rubin*
University of California, Berkeley, Department of Molecular & Cell Biology (Harvard Medical School, Mass. General Hospital, Department of Genetics?)		Basic Medical Research AwardFor their fundamental contributions to our knowledge of the relationship between cancer and cancer-producing DNA and RNA viruses.
1963Lyman C. Craig*
Rockefeller University (Rockefeller Institute)		Basic Medical Research AwardFor his countercurrent distribution technique as a method for the separation of biologically significant compounds, and for isolation and structure studies of important antibiotics.
1963Michael E. DeBakey*
Baylor University College of Medicine		Clinical Medical Research AwardFor his brilliant leadership and professional accomplishments, which were responsible in a large measure for inaugurating a new era in cardiovascular surgery.
1963Charles B. Huggins*
University of Chicago		Clinical Medical Research AwardFor his role as a catalyst in modern endocrine studies of tumor control in animals and men.
1962Choh H. Li*
University of California, Berkeley		Basic Medical Research AwardFor outstanding contributions to our understanding of the chemistry of pituitary hormones, including the identification and isolation of six hormones of the anterior pituitary gland.
1962Joseph E. Smadel‡
NIH		Clinical Medical Research AwardFor outstanding contributions to the understanding, diagnosis, and treatment of virus and rickettsial diseases, including the demonstration of the efficacy of chloramphenicol as a cure for rickettsial infections—typhoid fever and epidemic and scrub typhus
1960James V. Neel*
University of Michigan		Basic Medical Research AwardFor his work on thalassemia and sickle cell anemia.
1960James D. Watson*
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (Harvard University)		Basic Medical Research AwardFor their contribution in revealing the structure of the DNA model.
1959Albert H. Coons*
Harvard Medical School		Basic Medical Research AwardFor his contributions in immunology and specifically for his development of the fluorescent method of labelling proteins, a significant tool for the study of infection in human beings.
1959Jules Freund‡
NIH		Basic Medical Research AwardFor new findings in the field of immunology and allergy which have strengthened immunization procedures against such diseases as tuberculosis, malaria, rabies and poliomyelitis.
1958Heinz L. Fraenkel-Conrat*
University of California, Berkeley		Basic Medical Research AwardJoint award for their part in the discovery of the fundamental role of nucleic acid in the reproduction of viruses and in the transmission of inherited characteristics.
1958Theodore Puck*
University of Colorado, Denver		Basic Medical Research AwardFor development of original methods for pure culture of living mammalian cells as a basis for new research in their nutrition, growth, genetics and mutation.
1958Robert W. Wilkins*
Boston University School of Medicine		Clinical Medical Research AwardFor distinguished contributions to the control of heart and blood vessel diseases through outstanding investigations into the causes, diagnosis and treatment of hypertension
1957Heinz E. Lehmann*
Douglas Hospital, Montréal		Clinical medical Research AwardFor his demonstrations of the clinical uses of chlorpromazine in the treatment of mental disorders.
1957Isaac Starr*
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine		Basic Medical Research AwardFor fundamental contributions to knowledge of the heart and the circulation, and for his development of the first practical ballistocardiograph.
1957C. J. Van Slyke*‡
National Institutes of Health		Public Service AwardFor his unique contributions in laying the foundation for a national program of medical research and training.
1956Arnall Patz*
Johns Hopkins University		Clinical Medical Research AwardFor his original, well-controlled studies in the cause and prevention of retrolental fibroplasia.
1956Jonas E. Salk*
University of Pittsburgh		Clinical Medical Research AwardFor developing a safe and effective vaccine against poliomyelitis.
1956Francis O. Schmitt*
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)		Basic Medical Research AwardJoint award for pioneering studies of the biochemical components of connective tissues, contributing to new understanding of arthritis and rheumatic diseases.
1955Richard L. Varco*
University of Minnesota		Clinical Medical Research AwardJoint award for advances in cardiac surgery, making possible more direct and safer approaches to the heart.
1954Edwin B. Astwood*
Tufts University School of Medicine (Tufts Medical College)		Basic Medical Research AwardFor basic contributions to our knowledge of endocrine function, leading to the control of hyperthyroidism.
1954John F. Enders*
Harvard Medical School		Basic Medical Research AwardFor his achievements in the cultivation of the viruses of poliomyelitis, mumps and measles.
1954Helen B. Taussig*
Johns Hopkins University		Clinical Medical Research AwardJoint award for distinguished contributions to cardiovascular surgery and knowledge.
1953Hans A. Krebs*
University of Sheffield		Basic Medical Research AwardFor his work as discoverer of the urea and citric acid cycles, which are basic to our understanding of how the body converts food into energy.
1953George Wald*
Harvard University		Basic Medical Research AwardFor his outstanding achievements in explaining the physiology of vision in man.
1953NIH‡Group AwardFor outstanding administration of a research grants program.
1953Paul Dudley White‡
NIH		Clinical Medical Research AwardFor distinguished achievement in the pathology, diagnosis and treatment of heart disease.
1952H. Trendley Dean‡
NIH		Clinical Medical Research AwardJoint award for leadership in the development of community-wide fluoridation programs.
1949William S. Tillett*
New York University		Basic Medical Research AwardJoint award for the discovery and purification of the enzymes streptokinase and streptodornase.
1948Vincent du Vigneaud*
Cornell University – Weill Cornell Medical College (Cornell University Medical College)		Basic Medical Research AwardFor his basic studies of transmethylation as essential to animal nutrition; for his contributions to the structure and synthesis of biotin and penicillin.
1948Rene J. Dubos*
Rockefeller University (Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research)		Basic Medical Research AwardJoint award for their achievement in studies of the antibiotic properties of soil bacteria; Dr. Waksman was also cited for his discovery of streptomycin.
1948R. E. Dyer‡
NIH		Public Service AwardFor his scientific accomplishments in the field of microbiological research and for his distinguished service as Director of the National Institutes of Health during the war and post-war years.
1946NIH‡Group AwardIn recognition of its fundamental contributions to the prevention and control of disease.