Albert Lasker
Basic Medical Research Award

It is with utmost gratitude to the Lasker Foundation, and its distinguished jury, that I humbly accept this most prestigious award. Having devoted over 35 years of my life to an understanding of a fundamental problem in gene control—and with a sustained belief in its ultimate relevance to broad areas of physiology—it is remarkably satisfying to have this view substantiated by an organization that plays such a pivotal role in promoting public awareness of the nature and importance of biomedical research.

This singular award is all the more meaningful because it comes at a time when there have been so many exciting developments not only in the transcription field, but in other important areas as well. What the award reemphasizes to me is the value and reward of picking an important new problem, even if risky, and pursuing it with confidence, diligence and rigor. My own success, of course, has benefited from many remarkable (and carefully chosen) individuals and institutions.

My graduate advisor Bill Rutter and my postdoctoral mentor Don Brown, monumental figures in their own scientific arenas, deserve special mention. They not only allowed me complete freedom in their laboratories to pursue my ambitious goal of reconstructing specific gene activation events in a test tube with purified components, but were also inspiring and critical teachers whose friendships I enjoyed and whose sanctions of my somewhat bold—and perhaps naïve—objectives were reassuring. As chairman of the department of biochemistry at Washington University School of Medicine, Roy Vagelos also played a key role in my early scientific development and success by providing a stimulating and nurturing environment—with flexible resources and few departmental responsibilities—that left no excuse for failure. From that time forth, and even before real success from our unpredictable cell-free transcription studies was realized, my work was generously supported by the NIH—and in the early days by the National Science Foundation and the American Cancer Society as well. For the past 20 years, The Rockefeller University has provided generous support, remarkable freedom and opportunity, and unparalleled collegiality. A phenomenal collaboration with Stephen Burley and a longstanding friendship with Jim Darnell, who initiated my recruitment to Rockefeller, are among the many highlights.

I also acknowledge, with great pride and gratitude, the remarkable dedication and contributions of my many students and postdoctoral fellows, who responded so effectively to the challenges set before them and, in many cases, exercised the freedom to go beyond. This award is equally a recognition of their activities, and, I hope, will serve to further inspire them to avidly pursue their own dreams and aspirations as independent scientists.

Finally, and most importantly, I thank my family for their love and support, as well as their understanding and patience, as I pursued my passion for science. Although my parents have not been witness to my success, and indeed had strongly advocated a continued life of hard work on our Indiana farm rather than the pursuit of higher education, this success has depended heavily on values I learned from them.