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 Date Awardee Award Type Award information
2022 Richard O. Hynes*
Massachusetts Institute of Technology  		 Basic Medical Research Award For discoveries concerning integrins – key mediators of cell-matrix and cell-cell interactions in physiology and disease.
2022 Erkki Ruoslahti*
Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute		 Basic Medical Research Award For discoveries concerning integrins – key mediators of cell-matrix and cell-cell interactions in physiology and disease.
2022 Timothy A. Springer*

Boston Children’s Hospital 

 Basic Medical Research Award For discoveries concerning integrins – key mediators of cell-matrix and cell-cell interactions in physiology and disease.
2021 Karl Deisseroth*
Stanford University 		 Basic Medical Research Award For 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.
2021 Katalin Karikó*
BioNTech		 Clinical Medical Research Award For the discovery of a new therapeutic technology based on the modification of messenger RNA—enabling rapid development of highly effective Covid-19 vaccines.
2021 Drew Weissman*
University of Pennsylvania		 Clinical Medical Research Award For the discovery of a new therapeutic technology based on the modification of messenger RNA—enabling rapid development of highly effective Covid-19 vaccines.
2021 David Baltimore*
California Institute of Technology		 Special Achievement Award in Medical Science As 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.
2019 Max D. Cooper*
Emory University School of Medicine		 Basic Medical Research Award For 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.
2019 Dennis J. Slamon*
University of California, Los Angeles		 Clinical Medical Research Award For 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.
2018

C. David Allis*
The Rockefeller University

 Basic Medical Research Award For discoveries elucidating how gene expression is influenced by chemical modification of histones—the proteins that package DNA within chromosomes.
2018

Michael Grunstein*
University of California, Los Angeles

 Basic Medical Research Award For discoveries elucidating how gene expression is influenced by chemical modification of histones—the proteins that package DNA within chromosomes.
2018

Joan Argetsinger Steitz*
Yale University

 Special Achievement Award in Medical Science For 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.
2017 Douglas R. Lowy‡
National Cancer Institute (NCI) Center for Cancer Research (CCR)		 Clinical Medical Research Award For technological advances that enabled development of human papillomaviruses (HPV) vaccines for prevention of cervical cancer and other tumors caused by HPV.
2017 John T. Schiller‡
National Cancer Institute (NCI) Center for Cancer Research (CCR)		 Clinical Medical Research Award For technological advances that enabled development of human papillomaviruses (HPV) vaccines for prevention of cervical cancer and other tumors caused by HPV.
2016 Bruce M. Alberts*
University of California, San Francisco		 Special Achievement Award in Medical Science For 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.
2016 William G. Kaelin, Jr.*
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute/Harvard Medical School		 Basic Medical Research Award For 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.
2016 Gregg L. Semenza *
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine		 Basic Medical Research Award For 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.
2016 Michael J. Sofia*
formerly at Pharmasset; now at Arbutus Biopharma		 Clinical Medical Research Award For 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.
2015 James P. Allison*
University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center		 Clinical Medical Research Award For the discovery and development of a monoclonal antibody therapy that unleashes the immune system to combat cancer.
2015 Stephen J. Elledge*
Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital		 Basic Medical Research Award For discoveries concerning the DNA-damage response—a fundamental mechanism that protects the genomes of all living organisms.
2014 Mary-Claire King*
University of Washington		 Special Achievement Award in Medical Science For 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.
2014 Peter Walter*
University of California, San Francisco		 Basic Medical Research Award For 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.
2014 Mahlon R. DeLong*
Emory University School of Medicine		 Clinical Medical Research Award For 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.
2013 Graeme M. Clark*
University of Melbourne		 Clinical Medical Research Award For the development of the modern cochlear implant — a device that bestows hearing to individuals with profound deafness.
2013 Richard H. Scheller*
Genentech		 Basic Medical Research Award For discoveries concerning the molecular machinery and regulatory mechanism that underlie the rapid release of neurotransmitters.
2013 Thomas C. Südhof*
Stanford University School of Medicine		 Basic Medical Research Award For discoveries concerning the molecular machinery and regulatory mechanism that underlie the rapid release of neurotransmitters.
2013 Blake S. Wilson*
Duke University		 Clinical Medical Research Award For the development of the modern cochlear implant — a device that bestows hearing to individuals with profound deafness.
2012 Donald D. Brown*
Carnegie Institution of Washington, Department of Embryology		 Special Achievement in Medical Science For 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.
2012 Roy Calne*
University of Cambridge		 Clinical Medical Research Award For the development of liver transplantation, which has restored normal life to thousands of patients with end-stage liver disease.
2012 Thomas Maniatis*
Columbia University, Department of Biochemistry & Biophysics		 Special Achievement Award in Medical Science For 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.
2012 Michael Sheetz*
Columbia University, Department of Biological Sciences		 Basic Medical Research Award For discoveries concerning cytoskeletal motor proteins, machines that move cargoes within cells, contract muscles, and enable cell movements.
2012 James Spudich*
Stanford University School of Medicine		 Basic Medical Research Award For discoveries concerning cytoskeletal motor proteins, machines that move cargoes within cells, contract muscles, and enable cell movements.
2012 Thomas E. Starzl*
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute		 Clinical Medical Research Award For the development of liver transplantation, which has restored normal life to thousands of patients with end-stage liver disease.
2012 Ronald Vale*
University of California, San Francisco (UCSF)		 Basic Medical Research Award For discoveries concerning cytoskeletal motor proteins, machines that move cargoes within cells, contract muscles, and enable cell movements.
2011 Franz-Ulrich Hartl*
Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, Department of Cellular Biochemistry		 Basic Medical Research Award For discoveries concerning the cell's protein-folding machinery, exemplified by cage-like structures that convert newly made proteins into their biologically active forms.
2011 Arthur L. Horwich*
Yale University School of Medicine, Department of Genetics		 Basic Medical Research Award For discoveries concerning the cell's protein-folding machinery, exemplified by cage-like structures that convert newly made proteins into their biologically active forms.
2011 NIH‡ Lasker-Bloomberg, Public Service For 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.
2010 Douglas L. Coleman*
Jackson Laboratory		 Basic Medical Research Award For the discovery of leptin, a hormone that regulates appetite and body weight—a breakthrough that opened obesity research to molecular exploration.
2010 Napoleone Ferrara*
Genentech, Inc., Department of Molecular Oncology		 Clinical Medical Research Award For 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.
2010 Jeffrey M. Friedman*
Rockefeller University, Laboratory of Molecular Genetics		 Basic Medical Research Award For the discovery of leptin, a hormone that regulates appetite and body weight—a breakthrough that opened obesity research to molecular exploration.
2010 David J. Weatherall*
Oxford University, Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine		 Special Achievement Award in Medical Science For 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.
2009 Brian J. Druker*
Oregon Health & Science University, Knight Cancer Institute		 Clinical Medical Research Award For the development of molecularly-targeted treatments for chronic myeloid leukemia, converting a fatal cancer into a manageable chronic condition.
2009 Charles L. Sawyers*
Sloan-Kettering- Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center		 Clinical Medical Research Award For the development of molecularly-targeted treatments for chronic myeloid leukemia, converting a fatal cancer into a manageable chronic condition.
2009 Shinya Yamanaka*
Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences, Kyoto University		 Basic Medical Research Award For 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.
2008 Victor R. Ambros*
University of Massachusetts Medical School, Department of Molecular Medicine		 Basic Medical Research Award For discoveries that revealed an unanticipated world of tiny RNAs that regulate gene function in plants and animals 
2008 David C. Baulcombe*
University of Cambridge, Department of Plant Sciences		 Basic Medical Research Award For discoveries that revealed an unanticipated world of tiny RNAs that regulate gene function in plants and animals.
2008 Stanley Falkow*
Stanford University School of Medicine		 Special Achievement Award in Medical Science For 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
2008 Gary B. Ruvkun*
Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital		 Basic Medical Research Award For discoveries that revealed an unanticipated world of tiny RNAs that regulate gene function in plants and animals.
2007 Albert Starr*
Providence Health and Services		 Clinical Medical Research Award For the development of prosthetic mitral and aortic valves, which have prolonged and enhanced the lives of millions of people with heart disease.
2007 Ralph Marvin Steinman*
Rockefeller University		 Basic Medical Research Award For the discovery of dendritic cells—the preeminent component of the immune system that initiates and regulates the body's response to foreign antigens.
2007 Anthony S. Fauci‡
NIH		 Public Service Award For his role as the principal architect of two major U.S. governmental programs, one aimed at AIDS and the other at biodefense.
2006 Aaron T. Beck*
University of Pennsylvania, Department of Psychiatry		 Clinical Medical Research Award For 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.
2006 Elizabeth H. Blackburn*
UCSF, Department of Biochemistry & Biophysics		 Basic Medical Research Award For 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.
2006 Joseph G. Gall*
Carnegie Institution for Science, Department of Embryology		 Special Achievement in Medical Science For 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.
2006 Carol W. Greider*
JHU School of Medicine, Department of Molecular Biology & Genetics		 Basic Medical Research Award For 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
2006 Jack W. Szostak*
Harvard Medical School		 Basic Medical Research Award For 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.
2004 Ronald M. Evans*
Salk Institute for Biological Studies		 Basic Medical Research Award For the discovery of the superfamily of nuclear hormone receptors and elucidation of a unifying mechanism that regulates embryonic development and diverse metabolic pathways.
2004 Elwood V. Jensen*
University of Cincinnati Medical Center, Vontz Center for Molecular Studies		 Basic Medical Research Award For the discovery of the superfamily of nuclear hormone receptors and elucidation of a unifying mechanism that regulates embryonic development and diverse metabolic pathways.
2004 Matthew Stanley Meselson*
Harvard University, Department of Molecular & Cell Biology		 Special Achievement Award in Medical Science For a lifetime career that combines penetrating discovery in molecular biology with creative leadership in the public policy of chemical and biological weapons.
2003 Marc Feldmann*
Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology, Imperial College London		 Clinical Medical Research Award For discovery of anti-TNF therapy as an effective treatment for rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases.
2003 Robert G. Roeder*
Rockefeller University		 Basic Medical Research Award For pioneering studies on eukaryotic RNA polymerases and the general transcriptional machinery, which opened gene expression in animal cells to biochemical analysis.
2002 James E. Darnell, Jr.*
Rockefeller University		 Special Achievement in Medical Science For 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.
2002 Willem J. Kolff*
University of Utah School of Medicine		 Clinical Medical Research Award For the development of renal hemodialysis, which changed kidney failure from a fatal to a treatable disease, prolonging the useful lives of millions of patients.
2002 James E. Rothman*
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center		 Basic Medical Research Award For 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.
2002 Randy W. Schekman*
University of California, Berkeley, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology		 Basic Medical Research Award For 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.
2002 Belding H. Scribner*
University of Washington		 Clinical Medical Research Award For the development of renal hemodialysis, which changed kidney failure from a fatal to a treatable disease, prolonging the useful lives of millions of patients.
2001 Mario R. Capecchi*
University of Utah, Department of Human Genetics		 Basic Medical Research Award For the development of a powerful technology for manipulating the mouse genome with exquisite precision, which allows the creation of animal models of human disease
2001 Oliver Smithies*
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill		 Basic Medical Research Award For the development of a powerful technology for manipulating the mouse genome with exquisite precision, which allows the creation of animal models of human disease.
2000 Harold 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. 
2000 Avram Hershko*
Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Department of Biochemistry		 Basic Medical Research Award For 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.
2000 Michael Houghton*
Chiron Corporation		 Clinical Medical Research Award For 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.
2000 Alexander J. Varshavsky*
California Institute of Technology, Division of Biology		 Basic Medical Research Award For 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.
2000 Harvey J. Alter‡
NIH		 Clinical Medical Research Award For 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. 
1999 Clay M. Armstrong*
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Department of Physiology		 Basic Medical Research Award For 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.
1999 Bertil Hille*
University of Washington School of Medicine, Department of Physiology & Biophysics		 Basic Medical Research Award For 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.
1999 Roderick MacKinnon*
Rockefeller University		 Basic Medical Research Award For 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.
1999 Seymour Solomon Kety‡
Harvard Medical School		 Special Achievement in Medical Science For 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.
1998 Leland ("Lee") Hartwell*
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center		 Basic Medical Research Award For 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.
1998 Alfred G. Knudson*
Fox Chase Cancer Center		 Clinical Medical Research Award For 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.
1998 Peter C. Nowell*
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine		 Clinical Medical Research Award For 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.
1998 Janet D. Rowley*
University of Chicago Medical Center		 Clinical Medical Research Award For 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.
1997 Victor A. McKusick*
Johns Hopkins University		 Special Achievement Award in Medical Science For a lifetime career as founder of the discipline of clinical genetics. 
1997 Mark S. Ptashne*
Harvard University		 Basic Medical Research Award For elegant and incisive discoveries leading to the understanding of how regulatory proteins control the transcription of genes.
1997 Alfred Sommer*
Johns Hopkins UniversityBloomberg School of Public Health		 Clinical Medical Research Award For 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.
1996 Porter Warren Anderson, Jr.*
University of Rochester Medical School, Department of Pediatrics & Microbiology		 Clinical Medical Research Award For 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.
1996 Robert F. Furchgott*
State University of New York Health Science Center at Brooklyn (SUNY)		 Basic Medical Research Award For 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.
1996 Ferid Murad*
GWU Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology (Molecular Geriatrics Corporation)		 Basic Medical Research Award For 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.
1996 Paul C. Zamecnik*
Worcester Foundation for Biomedical Research		 Special Achievement Award in Medical Science For brilliant and original science that revolutionized biochemistry and spawned new avenues of scientific inquiry.
1996 John B. Robbins‡
NIH		 Clinical Medical Research Award For 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.
1996 Rachel Schneerson‡
NIH		 Clinical Medical Research Award For 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.
1995 Peter C. Doherty*
University of Melbourne, Department of Immunology and Microbiology (St. Jude Children's Research Hospital)		 Basic Medical Research Award For the epochal discovery of MHC restriction of T-cell recognition and the single T-cell receptor altered-self hypothesis.
1995 Jack L. Strominger*
Harvard University, Department of Molecular & Cellular Biology		 Basic Medical Research Award For pioneering the isolation of and solution to the structures of class I and class II MHC proteins and their peptide complexes. 
1995 Emil R. Unanue*
Washington University, Department of Pathology and Immunology		 Basic Medical Research Award For seminal discoveries in antigen processing and MHC-peptide binding which deciphered the biochemical basis of T-cell recognition.
1995 Don C. Wiley*
Harvard University		 Basic Medical Research Award For visualizing the three-dimensional structures of class I and class II proteins and their complexes with antigens and superantigens.
1995 Rolf M. Zinkernagel*
University Hospital of Zurich, Institute of Experimental Immunology		 Basic Medical Research Award For the landmark discovery of MHC restriction of T-cell recognition, and the altered-self hypothesis.
1994 John A. Clements*
UCSF, Department of Pediatrics and Neonatology		 Clinical Medical Research Award For 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.
1994 Stanley B. Prusiner*
UCSF Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases		 Basic Medical Research Award For 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.
1993 Günter Blobel*
Rockefeller University, Laboratory of Cell Biology		 Basic Medical Research Award For landmark discoveries concerning the processes by which intercellular proteins are targeted across cell membranes.
1993 Donald Metcalf*
Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Division of Cancer & Haematology		 Clinical Medical Research Award For 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.
1993 Nancy S. Wexler*
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons		 Public Service Award For 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.
1991 Yuet Wai Kan*
UCSF Depts. of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine		 Clinical Medical Research Award For his pivotal contributions to the development of human genetics, most importantly in the area of the hemoglobinopathies using recombinant DNA technology.
1991 Edward B. Lewis*
California Institute of Technology		 Basic Medical Research Award For 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. 
1989 Alfred G. Gilman*
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center		 Basic Medical Research Award For his pioneering studies of signal transduction and for his discovery that G-proteins carry signals that regulate vital processes within cells.
1989 Edwin G. Krebs*
University of Washington School of Medicine		 Basic Medical Research Award For his seminal finding that phosphorylation activates major enzymes in cells, and for perceiving the profound importance of protein kinase enzymes.
1988 Thomas R. Cech*
University of Colorado at Boulder, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry		 Basic Medical Research Award For his revolutionary research revealing the enzymatic role of RNA, opening a new universe in molecular biology.
1988 Vincent P. Dole*
Rockefeller University		 Clinical Medical Research Award For postulating the physiological basis of narcotic addiction and for developing methadone treatment for heroin addiction. 
1988 Phillip A. Sharp*
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Center for Cancer Research		 Basic Medical Research Award For his series of revelations regarding the ability of RNA processing to convert DNA's massive store of genetic data to biological use.
1987 Leroy E. Hood*
California Institute of Technology		 Basic Medical Research Award For his prolific and imaginative studies of somatic recombination in the immune system, detailing in molecular terms the genetics of antibody diversity.
1987 Susumu Tonegawa*
Massachusetts Institute of Technology		 Basic Medical Research Award For brilliantly demonstrating that the DNA responsible for antibody production is routinely reshuffled to create new genes during the lifetime of an individual.
1987 Philip Leder‡
Harvard Medical School, Department of Genetics		 Basic Medical Research Award For his elegant genetic studies, particularly in carcinogenesis, and for developing transgenic laboratory animals for the study of cancer and other diseases.
1987 NIH‡ 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.
1986 Stanley Cohen*
Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Department of Biochemistry		 Basic Medical Research Award For discovering and biochemically defining epidermal growth factor (EGF), which illuminated the dynamics of cell growth.
1986 Myron E. Essex*
Harvard School of Public Health, Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases		 Clinical Medical Research Award For his creative research on the impact of retroviral infection on the human immune system.
1986 Rita Levi-Montalcini*
Institute of Cell Biology		 Basic Medical Research Award For her original concept that cell growth is governed by soluble substances, and for the discovery of nerve growth factor (NGF).
1986 Robert C. Gallo‡
NIH		 Clinical Medical Research Award For determining that the retrovirus now known as HIV-1 is the cause of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS).
1985 Michael D. Brown*
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (The University of Texas Health Science Center at Dallas)		 Basic Medical Research Award Dupe?
1985 Michael S. Brown*
UT Southwestern Medical Center, Department of Molecular Genetics		 Basic Medical Research Award For 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.
1985 Bernard Fisher*
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine		 Clinical Medical Research Award For 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
1985 Joseph L. Goldstein*
University of Texas Health Science Center at Dallas, Department of Molecular Genetics		 Basic Medical Research Award For 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.
1984 Paul C. Lauterbur*
State University of New York at Stony Brook (SUNY)		 Clinical Medical Research Award For his theoretical and technical contributions which made possible a new form of medical imaging based on nuclear magnetic resonance.
1984 Michael Potter‡
NIH		 Basic Medical Research Award For his fundamental research into the genetics of immunoglobulin molecules, paving the way for the development of hybridomas.
1983 Eric R. Kandel*
Columbia University, Department of Neuroscience		 Basic Medical Research Award For his brilliant application of cell biology techniques to the study of behavior, revealing the mechanisms underlying learning and memory.
1983 Saul Krugman*
New York University		 Public Service Award For his persistent leadership in conceiving, developing and testing vaccines against various viral diseases, especially hepatitis B, with vast impact on world health.
1983 Vernon B. Mountcastle*
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine		 Basic Medical Research Award For his original discoveries which illuminate the brain's ability to perceive and organize information, and to translate sensory impulses into behavior.
1982 J. Michael Bishop*
UCSF Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics		 Basic Medical Research Award For his elegant elucidation of the nature of oncogenes, and his contribution to the discovery that these genes are present in normal cells.
1982 Raymond L. Erikson*
Harvard University Medical School		 Basic Medical Research Award For 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
1982 Robert C. Gallo*‡
NIH		 Basic Medical Research Award For his pioneering studies that led to the discovery of the first human RNA tumor virus and its association with certain leukemias and lymphomas
1982 Hidesaburo Hanafusa*
Rockefeller University		 Basic Medical Research Award For demonstrating how RNA tumor viruses cause cancer, and elucidating their role in combining, rescuing and maintaining oncogenes in the viral genome.
1982 Roscoe O. Brady‡
NIH		 Clinical Medical Research Award For 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.
1982 Elizabeth F. Neufeld‡
NIH		 Clinical Medical Research Award For clarifying the molecular basis and diagnosis of certain hereditary lysosomal storage disorders that may cause growth abnormalities, mental retardation, blindness, deafness and death.
1982 Harold E. Varmus‡
NIH		 Basic Medical Research Award For his creative and successful pursuit toward the identification of the cellular oncogenes and their control.
1981 Louis E. Sokoloff‡
NIH		 Clinical Medical Research Award For 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.
1980 Paul Berg*
Stanford University School of Medicine, Department of Biochemistry		 Basic Medical Research Award For his key, historic achievements which made recombinant DNA a brilliant reality, and inaugurated a new age of biomedical promise.
1980 Herbert W. Boyer*
UCSF School of Medicine, Department of Biochemistry & Biophysics		 Basic Medical Research Award For his brilliant contributions to recombinant DNA methodology, particularly in enzymology, plasmids, and in application of synthetic DNA.
1980 Stanley N. Cohen*
Stanford School of Medicine, Department of Genetics		 Basic Medical Research Award For his splendid contributions to recombinant DNA methodology, and for accomplishing the first transplantation of genes between cells.
1980 Vincent J. Freda*
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons		 Clinical Medical Research Award For his vital clinical research in developing an anti-Rh vaccine, which promises the conquest of hemolytic disease of the newborn.
1980 A. Dale Kaiser*
Stanford University School of Medicine, Department of Biochemistry		 Basic Medical Research Award For his crucial role in creating recombinant DNA methodology through his pathbreaking studies of cohesive single-stranded DNA.
1980 NIH‡ Special Public Health Award Presented to the NHLBI for its Hypertension Detection and Follow-Up Program, standing alone among clinical studies in its profound potential benefits to millions
1979 Walter Gilbert*
Harvard University		 Basic Medical Research Award For their brilliant development of a new technique for the rapid sequencing of DNA.
1978 Robert Austrian*
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine		 Clinical Medical Research Award For his perseverance in the development and clear demonstration of the efficacy of a purified vaccine of capsular polysaccharides in the prevention of pneumococcal diseases
1978 Theodore  Cooper*
Cornell University- Weill Cornell Medical College (Cornell University Medical College)		 Public Service Award For 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.
1978 Emil C. Gotschlich*
Rockefeller University, Laboratory of Bacterial Pathogenesis		 Clinical Medical Research Award For his creative leadership in developing, and then demonstrating the effectiveness of a purified capsular polysaccharide vaccine in preventing meningococcal diseases.
1978 Hans W. Kosterlitz*
University of Aberdeen		 Basic Medical Research Award For his pioneering work in identifying the relation of the opiate receptors to the naturally occurring enkephalins.
1978 Solomon H. Snyder*
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Department of Neuroscience		 Basic Medical Research Award For his pioneering work in identifying the opiate receptors and the demonstration of their relation to the enkephalins.
1976 Raymond P. Ahlquist*
Georgia Health Sciences University Medical College of Georgia (Medical College of Georgia)		 Clinical Medical Research Award For 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.
1976 Rosalyn Yalow*
Veterans Administration; Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, City University of New York (CUNY)		 Basic Medical Research Award For the discovery and development of the technique of radioimmunoassay.
1975 Frank J. Dixon*
Scripps Research Institute (Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation)		 Basic Medical Research Award For their outstanding contribution to the creation of a new medical discipline, immunopathology.
1975 Roger C.L. Guillemin*
Salk Institute for Biological Studies		 Basic Medical Research Award For research that has expanded our knowledge of the interplay between the hypothalamus and the endocrine system. 
1975 Henry G. Kunkel*
Rockefeller University		 Basic Medical Research Award For their outstanding contribution to the creation of a new medical discipline, immunopathology.
1974 Sol Spiegelman*
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons		 Basic Medical Research Award For his contributions to molecular biology, including techniques of molecular hybridization and the first synthesis of an infectious nucleic acid.
1974 Howard M. Temin*
University of Wisconsin		 Basic Medical Research Award For his contributions to the biology of RNA-containing cancer viruses and elucidation of the mode of action of viral genes.
1973 William B. Kouwenhoven*
Johns Hopkins University		 Clinical Medical Research Award For his life-saving development of open and closed chest defibrillators, and for originating the technique of external cardiac massage.
1973 Paul M. Zoll*
Harvard Medical School; Beth Israel Hospital		 Clinical Medical Research Award For his development of the life-saving closed chest defibrillator and the pacemaker. 
1972 Joseph H. Burchenal*
Memorial Hospital for Cancer and Allied Diseases		 Clinical Medical Research Award For his outstanding contribution in recognizing the importance of Burkitt's tumor as a model. 
1972 Isaac Djerassi*
Mercy Catholic Medical Center		 Clinical Medical Research Award For his outstanding contribution in the supportive care, by platelet transfusion, of patients receiving intensive chemotherapy.
1972 Edmund Klein*
Roswell Park Cancer Institute (Roswell Park Memorial Institute)		 Clinical Medical Research Award For his outstanding contribution in the treatment of premalignant and malignant cancers of the skin.
1972 Donald Pinkel*
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital		 Clinical Medical Research Award For their outstanding contribution to the concept and application of combination therapy in the treatment of acute leukemia in children.
1972 Roy Hertz‡
NIH		 Clinical Medical Research Award For their outstanding contribution to the successful chemotherapeutic treatment of gestational choriocarcinoma.
1972 Paul P. Carbone‡
NIH		 Clinical Medical Research Award For his outstanding contribution to advances in the concept of combination therapy in the treatment of acute leukemia in children.
1972 Vincent T. DeVita, Jr.‡
NIH (Yale University School of Medicine)		 Clinical Medical Research Award For his outstanding contribution to the concept of combination therapy in the treatment of Hodgkin's disease.
1972 Emil  Freireich‡
University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Adult Leukemia Research Program		 Clinical Medical Research Award For his outstanding contributions in combination chemotherapy, and in supportive care of patients receiving combination chemotherapy for acute leukemia.
1972 Min Li‡ Clinical Medical Research Award For their outstanding contribution to the successful chemotherapeutic treatment of gestational choriocarcinoma.
1972 Eugene J. Van Scott‡
Temple University		 Clinical Medical Research Award For his outstanding contribution to the concept of topical chemotherapy in the treatment of mycosis fungoides.
1972 John L. Ziegler‡
NIH		 Clinical Medical Research Award For his outstanding contribution in increasing the cure rate of Burkitt's tumor by chemotherapy.
1972 C. Gordon Zubrod‡
NIH		 Clinical (also listed as a Special Award) Special Award: For his leadership in expanding the frontiers of cancer chemotherapy.
1972 Emil J. Frei*‡
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (Children's Cancer Research Foundation)		 Clinical Medical Research Award For his outstanding contribution in the application of the concept of combination chemotherapy to lymphoma and acute adult leukemia.
1972 James F. Holland*‡
Roswell Park Cancer Institute (Roswell Park Memorial Institute)		 Clinical Medical Research Award For their outstanding contribution to the concept and application of combination therapy in the treatment of acute leukemia in children.
1971 Seymour Benzer*
California Institute of Technology		 Basic Medical Research Award For the brilliant contribution to molecular genetics.
1971 Charles Yanofsky*
Stanford University, Department of Biology		 Basic Medical Research Award For their brilliant contribution to molecular genetics.
1970 Robert Good*
University of Minnesota		 Clinical Medical Research Award For his uniquely important contributions to our understanding of the mechanism of immunity.
1970 Earl W. Sutherland*
Vanderbilt University School of Medicine (Vanderbilt University Medical School)		 Basic Medical Research Award For his discovery of cyclic AMP, and for providing a comprehension of this key chemical mechanism, which regulates hormonal action.
1969 George C. Cotzias*
Brookhaven National Laboratory		 Clinical Medical Research Award For his demonstration of the effectiveness of large daily dosages of L-DOPA in the treatment of Parkinson's disease.
1968 Marshall Warren Nirenberg‡
NIH		 Basic Medical Research Award For their contributions toward deciphering the genetic code.
1968 William F. Windle‡
New York University Lagone Medical Center (New York University Medical Center)		 Basic Medical Research Award For his basic discoveries in the field of developmental biology.
1967 Bernard B. Brodie‡
NIH		 Basic Medical Research Award For his extraordinary contributions to biochemical pharmacology.
1966 Sidney 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 Award For 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.
1966 George E. Palade*
Rockefeller University		 Basic Medical Research Award For his fundamental contributions to the electron microscopy of biological materials.
1965 Robert Holley*
Cornell University		 Basic Medical Research Award For determining for the first time the chemical structure of an amino acid transfer RNA.
1965 Albert B. Sabin*
University of Cincinnati College of Medicine		 Clinical Medical Research Award For the development of a live, oral poliovirus vaccine.
1964 Renato Dulbecco*
Salk Institute of Biological Studies		 Basic Medical Research Award For their fundamental contributions to our knowledge of the relationship between cancer and cancer-producing DNA and RNA viruses.
1964 Nathan S. Kline*
Rockland Psychiatric Center (Rockland State Hospital)		 Clinical Medical Research Award For the introduction and use of iproniazid in the treatment of severe depression.
1964 Harry B. Rubin*
University of California, Berkeley, Department of Molecular & Cell Biology (Harvard Medical School, Mass. General Hospital, Department of Genetics?)		 Basic Medical Research Award For their fundamental contributions to our knowledge of the relationship between cancer and cancer-producing DNA and RNA viruses.
1963 Lyman C. Craig*
Rockefeller University (Rockefeller Institute)		 Basic Medical Research Award For his countercurrent distribution technique as a method for the separation of biologically significant compounds, and for isolation and structure studies of important antibiotics.
1963 Michael E. DeBakey*
Baylor University College of Medicine		 Clinical Medical Research Award For his brilliant leadership and professional accomplishments, which were responsible in a large measure for inaugurating a new era in cardiovascular surgery.
1963 Charles B. Huggins*
University of Chicago		 Clinical Medical Research Award For his role as a catalyst in modern endocrine studies of tumor control in animals and men.
1962 Choh H. Li*
University of California, Berkeley		 Basic Medical Research Award For outstanding contributions to our understanding of the chemistry of pituitary hormones, including the identification and isolation of six hormones of the anterior pituitary gland.
1962 Joseph E. Smadel‡
NIH		 Clinical Medical Research Award For 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
1960 James V. Neel*
University of Michigan		 Basic Medical Research Award For his work on thalassemia and sickle cell anemia.
1960 James D. Watson*
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (Harvard University)		 Basic Medical Research Award For their contribution in revealing the structure of the DNA model.
1959 Albert H. Coons*
Harvard Medical School		 Basic Medical Research Award For 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.
1959 Jules Freund‡
NIH		 Basic Medical Research Award For new findings in the field of immunology and allergy which have strengthened immunization procedures against such diseases as tuberculosis, malaria, rabies and poliomyelitis.
1958 Heinz L. Fraenkel-Conrat*
University of California, Berkeley		 Basic Medical Research Award Joint 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.
1958 Theodore  Puck*
University of Colorado, Denver		 Basic Medical Research Award For development of original methods for pure culture of living mammalian cells as a basis for new research in their nutrition, growth, genetics and mutation.
1958 Robert W. Wilkins*
Boston University School of Medicine		 Clinical Medical Research Award For distinguished contributions to the control of heart and blood vessel diseases through outstanding investigations into the causes, diagnosis and treatment of hypertension
1957 Heinz E. Lehmann*
Douglas Hospital, Montréal		 Clinical medical Research Award For his demonstrations of the clinical uses of chlorpromazine in the treatment of mental disorders.
1957 Isaac Starr*
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine		 Basic Medical Research Award For fundamental contributions to knowledge of the heart and the circulation, and for his development of the first practical ballistocardiograph.
1957 C. J. Van Slyke*‡
National Institutes of Health		 Public Service Award For his unique contributions in laying the foundation for a national program of medical research and training.
1956 Arnall Patz*
Johns Hopkins University		 Clinical Medical Research Award For his original, well-controlled studies in the cause and prevention of retrolental fibroplasia.
1956 Jonas E. Salk*
University of Pittsburgh		 Clinical Medical Research Award For developing a safe and effective vaccine against poliomyelitis. 
1956 Francis O. Schmitt*
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)		 Basic Medical Research Award Joint award for pioneering studies of the biochemical components of connective tissues, contributing to new understanding of arthritis and rheumatic diseases.
1955 Richard L. Varco*
University of Minnesota		 Clinical Medical Research Award Joint award for advances in cardiac surgery, making possible more direct and safer approaches to the heart.
1954 Edwin B. Astwood*
Tufts University School of Medicine (Tufts Medical College)		 Basic Medical Research Award For basic contributions to our knowledge of endocrine function, leading to the control of hyperthyroidism.
1954 John F. Enders*
Harvard Medical School		 Basic Medical Research Award For his achievements in the cultivation of the viruses of poliomyelitis, mumps and measles.
1954 Helen B. Taussig*
Johns Hopkins University		 Clinical Medical Research Award Joint award for distinguished contributions to cardiovascular surgery and knowledge.
1953 Hans A. Krebs*
University of Sheffield		 Basic Medical Research Award For 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. 
1953 George Wald*
Harvard University		 Basic Medical Research Award For his outstanding achievements in explaining the physiology of vision in man.
1953 NIH‡ Group Award For outstanding administration of a research grants program.
1953 Paul Dudley White‡
NIH		 Clinical Medical Research Award For distinguished achievement in the pathology, diagnosis and treatment of heart disease.
1952 H. Trendley Dean‡
NIH		 Clinical Medical Research Award Joint award for leadership in the development of community-wide fluoridation programs. 
1949 William S. Tillett*
New York University		 Basic Medical Research Award Joint award for the discovery and purification of the enzymes streptokinase and streptodornase.
1948 Vincent du Vigneaud*
Cornell University – Weill Cornell Medical College (Cornell University Medical College)		 Basic Medical Research Award For his basic studies of transmethylation as essential to animal nutrition; for his contributions to the structure and synthesis of biotin and penicillin.
1948 Rene J. Dubos*
Rockefeller University (Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research)		 Basic Medical Research Award Joint award for their achievement in studies of the antibiotic properties of soil bacteria; Dr. Waksman was also cited for his discovery of streptomycin.
1948 R. E. Dyer‡
NIH		 Public Service Award For 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.
1946 NIH‡ Group Award In recognition of its fundamental contributions to the prevention and control of disease.

This page last reviewed on September 28, 2022