Lasker~Koshland
Special Achievement Award in Medical Science

Acceptance remarks by Stanley Falkow

When I was a boy, I looked out into the star-filled sky one night and was awestruck by its beauty. I had just learned in school about how distant these points of light were and the idea of a universe. And, I thought "But what's beyond that?" I believe it was at this moment that I became a scientist. A few days later, I happened on a book called Microbe Hunters and became equally enchanted by the stories of microbes and their role in disease. It dawned on me that I wanted to explore this hidden universe.

I was able to follow my dream to study microbes because of my teachers. The earliest were all women who taught in public schools. I realized later that I was the beneficiary of the discrimination that for generations led many of the brightest women to find their intellectual outlet by teaching others to be what they could not. Later my professors at the University of Maine and at Brown University taught me the basic tools of science.

My first job at the Walter Reed in 1960 introduced me to the world of epidemiology and global medicine. It was there that I learned how infectious diseases had influenced human history. Subsequently I discovered the joys of teaching. I have been a Professor at three universities since then but there has been one constant — students. The greatest compliment one can receive is when a student says that he or she wishes to work with you. It is also a moment of anxiety since these individuals have essentially put part of their lives in your hands. The language has changed. The music played in the laboratory has changed from Pete Seeger in the 60's to what now seems to me to be random noise. Yet, thank goodness, the same palpable exuberance, excitement and passion for knowledge and the occasional joy of joint discovery remains the same.

At a time when infectious diseases were predicted to be no longer important because of the use of antibiotics, my students and I learned how bacteria were becoming quickly tolerant to these medicines. Subsequently, we uncovered tactical tricks used by microbes to infect humans. We learned that bacteria know more cell biology and immunology than possibly all previous Lasker Award winners; microbes are masters at harnessing the normal human cellular machinery for their own purposes, and they have learned to circumvent the immune system that's designed to defeat them. The more we learned about how microorganisms persisted on and within us, the more we learned about our own biology. I believe this fundamental understanding is the key to the future development of effective vaccines and therapeutic intervention against all infectious disease.

It is not a matter of them vs. us, or a war of attrition. Rather, based on cell number, each of us is more microbial than human; we carry ten times more microbial cells than cells of our own. The human body is a biological universe of many species, most of which have never been grown in the laboratory and whose role in health and disease is still a mystery. It is another new frontier and another great adventure of discovery of just the kind promoted by The Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation

I am honored to receive this special award. Yet, you must now realize that my life in science was fueled by my teachers and mentors and reflects the shared dreams and ideas of my creative students and colleagues. I share this recognition with them. And, with my little buddies, the microbes.