Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation

Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation The Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation is a philanthropic organization established by advertising executive Albert Lasker and civic activist Mary Woodard Lasker to advance biomedical research, public health, and medical education. The foundation is best known for the annual Lasker Awards and for advocacy that influenced agencies such as the National Institutes of Health and policies enacted by the United States Congress. It has interacted with numerous figures and institutions including James D. Watson, Francis Crick, Rosalind Franklin, Howard Temin, Temin? and organizations like the Rockefeller Foundation, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Kresge Foundation.

History

The foundation traces origins to postwar civic activism by Albert Lasker and Mary Woodard Lasker who collaborated with leaders from the American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, National Research Council, Association of American Medical Colleges, and the Brookings Institution to expand biomedical funding. During the 1940s and 1950s they influenced figures such as Vannevar Bush, Harvey Cushing, Elliot Richardson, Margaret Sanger, Paul A. Freund, and lobbied committees in the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives to secure appropriations for the National Institutes of Health and the National Cancer Institute. In subsequent decades the foundation engaged with scientists including Selman Waksman, Gertrude Elion, Alexander Fleming, Howard Temin, Andrew Schally, Roger Guillemin, and leaders at universities such as Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University, Columbia University, Yale University, Stanford University, University of Pennsylvania, and University of Chicago.

Mission and Activities

The foundation’s mission emphasizes recognition of biomedical achievement, promotion of clinical translation, and support for public health communication. It conducts award selection in concert with panels featuring members from the National Academy of Sciences, Institute of Medicine, Royal Society, American Association for the Advancement of Science, and research institutes like the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Salk Institute, Max Planck Society, Karolinska Institute, and Institut Pasteur. The foundation sponsors symposia and conferences attended by investigators such as Craig Venter, Katalin Karikó, Emmanuelle Charpentier, Jennifer Doudna, Fiona Watt, David Baltimore, Luc Montagnier, Yoshinori Ohsumi, Shinya Yamanaka, Elizabeth Blackburn, Carol Greider, and representatives from corporations including Pfizer, Merck, Johnson & Johnson, Roche, and Novartis. It partners with advocacy groups like March of Dimes, Susan G. Komen, Alzheimer's Association, American Diabetes Association, Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and international agencies such as the World Health Organization and Pan American Health Organization.

Lasker Awards

The Lasker Awards, administered by the foundation, honor individuals and teams across categories including Basic Medical Research, Clinical Medical Research, Public Service, and Special Achievement. Laureates have included Barbara McClintock, Linus Pauling, Paul Berg, Stanley Prusiner, Harald zur Hausen, John B. Gurdon, Andrew Fire, Craig Mello, James P. Allison, Tasuku Honjo, Harvey J. Alter, Michael Houghton, Charles M. Rice, Kary Mullis, Richard J. Roberts, Francis Collins, Anthony Fauci, Joseph L. Goldstein, Michael S. Brown, Peter Doherty, Rita Levi-Montalcini, Julius Axelrod, Arthur Kornberg, Sydney Brenner, Edward B. Lewis, Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard, Eric Wieschaus, and Paul Nurse. Many Lasker Award recipients later received Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine recognition, and ceremonies have featured presenters from institutions such as The White House, Carnegie Institution for Science, Nobel Foundation, Smithsonian Institution, and the American Philosophical Society.

Funding and Governance

Funding has derived from endowments established by Albert Lasker and Mary Woodard Lasker, contributions from private philanthropies including Rockefeller Foundation, Sloan Foundation, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Carnegie Corporation of New York, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and gifts from corporations like Eli Lilly and Company and AbbVie. The foundation’s governance includes a board with trustees drawn from leaders at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, Mount Sinai Health System, New York University, Massachusetts General Hospital, Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, and former public servants from the United States Department of Health and Human Services and the Office of Management and Budget. Advisory committees have featured Nobel laureates, members of the Royal Society, and executives from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Wellcome Trust.

Impact and Legacy

The foundation’s advocacy and awards have elevated research on cancer, cardiovascular disease, infectious disease, and molecular biology, influencing policy decisions by the United States Congress and investment priorities at the National Institutes of Health and philanthropic funders. Its laureates and partners include pioneers who shaped recombinant DNA research like Herbert Boyer, Stanford Moore, Arthur Kornberg, and vaccinology leaders such as Maurice Hilleman, Jonas Salk, Albert Sabin, Emilio Bizzi? whose work affected programs at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and international initiatives like Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. The foundation’s cultural footprint appears in museum exhibits at the National Museum of American History, oral histories archived by the Library of Congress, and biographies published by presses including Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press. Its awards continue to be predictors of later Nobel Prize recognition and markers of influence among institutions such as Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Broad Institute, Scripps Research, and Institut Pasteur.

Category:Foundations based in the United States