Lasker Letter

LASKER FOUNDATION APPOINTS GLOBAL HEALTH LEADER AS PRESIDENT
The Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation announced that Dr. Maria C. Freire will become President of the Lasker Foundation on March 1, 2008. Dr. Freire is an internationally recognized global health and intellectual property expert; she comes to the Foundation from her position as President and Chief Executive Officer of the non-profit Global Alliance for TB Drug Development, which develops novel, faster and better drugs for tuberculosis. Under her leadership, the TB Alliance grew from a nascent enterprise to having the largest TB drug pipeline in the world. Dr. Freire previously led the Office of Technology Transfer at the U.S. National Institutes of Health. Dr. Freire will succeed Dr. Neen Hunt, who has guided the Foundation since 1995.

James Fordyce, Chairman of the Lasker Foundation's Board of Trustees, announced the appointment: "We are delighted to welcome Maria Freire as the Lasker Foundation's new President. Dr. Freire brings a passionate commitment and broad perspective to the field of medical research and its potential for curing disease and improving the public health. The global perspective she has gained from her outstanding work on tuberculosis will be especially valuable as we look to the future. We also applaud Dr. Hunt for her effective stewardship of the Lasker Foundation over the past twelve years, and for the initiatives launched during her tenure."

Dr. Freire said, "The Lasker Foundation's legacy is exceptional and its future is bright; advancing the field of medical research in the 21st century is increasingly a global imperative, and I welcome the invitation to bring my experience and passion for medical science to serve as the Foundation's next president."

DR. ROBERT TIJIAN ELECTED TO THE LASKER BOARD
The Foundation is delighted to announce the election of Dr. Robert Tijian to the Board of Directors. Dr. Tijian is professor of Cell Biology and Director of the Li Ka-Shing Center for Biomedical and Health Science at University of California, Berkeley. Throughout the past 20 years, Dr. Tijian's seminal studies have combined biochemistry, molecular biology, genetics and structural biology to dissect the structure and function of molecular apparatus that decodes the genome and programs the production of proteins in humans that maintain life. He has received, among other honors, the General Motors Alfred P. Sloan Jr. Prize and the Horwitz Prize from Columbia University.

LASKER COLLABORATIVE IN REGENERATIVE MEDICINE
On November 16 and 17, 40 professionals from diverse science disciplines—including physics, imaging technology, bioinformatics, chemistry—met to identify obstacles in regenerative medicine and to discuss how they might be addressed by engineering and technology solutions. Dr. Irving Weissman, Chairman of this initiative and Director of the Stanford Institute for Stem Cell Research and Regenerative Medicine, prepared the agenda of topics for discussion and debate. Scientists who participated were enthusiastic about the project; positive comments included the following: "This is the best conference I have ever attended"; "The consistently high level of presentations was an extraordinary benefit"; "The diversity and quality of the people who attended was amazing and unusual. I learned a great deal." "It is rare to attend a meeting with this kind of breadth—it's breadth that stimulates out of the box thinking."

LASKER LAUREATE ERIC KANDEL PUBLISHES MEMOIR
On October 18, 20 invited guests gathered at the home of Robin Duke, 1991 Lasker Public Service Award winner, to hear Dr. Eric Kandel, 1983 Lasker Award winner and Nobelist, talk about his recently published memoir, In Search of Memory: The Emergence of a New Science of Mind, and his latest research aimed at understanding the neurological basis for memory

2007 WINNERS ON FILM
A short film for Web site viewing and a DVD of the 2007 winners is in production and should be completed soon. Emily Senay, correspondent for CBS News, has again generously agreed to narrate the film. The film is being produced again by Windfall Productions and will be distributed once again by the Koshland Museum in Washington D.C. to area high schools, and shown to the Museum's visitors.

ONLINE AWARD SUBMISSIONS
The Foundation is currently working with a team of Web developers to implement an online nomination process for the Lasker Awards. Scientists will be able to fill out their nominations and attach supporting material to a secure server linked to the Foundation's Web site.

STAFF CHANGES
The Foundation welcomes Betsy Hanson to replace Lilith Wood as Communications Editor. Betsy has experience as a medical journalist with The Rockefeller University and Discover magazine.

LASKER WEB SITE
The new Lasker Foundation site has additional features to attract users, navigation paths that are user-friendly, and a more efficient search engine for visitors researching Lasker Award winners.

FROM THE 2007 LASKER AWARDS DINNER, A TRIBUTE TO THIS YEAR'S AWARD WINNERS: Ralph Steinman, Alain Carpentier, Albert Starr and Anthony Fauci
To our annual guests, I beg tolerance again for my poetic voice
It is almost as if I don't have a choice
To speak in exposition or verse, such pressure to be terse;
To express awe and privilege and to be at the table
with this year's Award winners, and their achievements that enable
human life to improve.
The sound of poetry aims each heart to be moved.

Speaking of heart, a mitral valve device is honored in 2007 thanks to Albert Starr.
With the sun and moon, he holds a place in heaven.
As does Alain Carpentier. His valve surgery treats the degenerative and rheumatic.
In patients so sick, Alain has brought results dramatic.
Goodbye to blood thinners, heart failure and clots
Au revoir to short life, they connected the dots
Success from animals to humans, a heart valve artificial
They are bestowed the clinical; the Jury's made it official.

Citing AIDS, biodefense, and public health disasters
Our Award in Public Service for a spokesperson scientist always having to work faster to cope with such horrors. Add infectious disease
to the terror for people that Tony has eased.
Advising world leaders, including our President.
What relief we would feel if Fauci'd inhabit his residence.
Responding to health threats that know no season,
this public servant explains science with clarity and reason.

The Basic prize presented to beloved Ralph Steinman
Not a football lineman, but a rock of a "feller" whose science is so stellar
we pay homage to his brilliance for discovering the dendritic,
with implications for cancer and maybe the arthritic.
He had to overcome adversity to understand immune diversity.
And the role for these cells initiating T cell immunity.
This ingenious researcher hailed by Lasker's community.

In the Award deliberations, I am not a player
But among scientists with knowledge you won't find a naysayer
to question the genius of each of these revolutionary insights,
and history will prove that the Lasker Jury chose right.

– Dr. Neen Hunt