Three World-Renowned American Scientists Receive America's Largest Prize in Medicine
Pictured above from left to right: Vincent Verdile, MD, chair of the Albany Prize Selection Committee and dean of Albany Medical College; Eric Lander, PhD, president and director of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard; Francis Collins, MD, PhD, director of the National Institutes of Health; David Botstein, PhD, director and Anthony B. Evnin Professor of Genomics, Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics, Princeton University; and James J. Barba, chairman of the National Selection Committee and president and CEO of Albany Medical Center.
The 10th annual Albany Medical Center Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research was awarded to David Botstein, Ph.D., director and Anthony B. Evnin Professor of Genomics of the Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics at Princeton University, Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., director of the National Institutes of Health, and Eric Steven Lander, Ph.D., president and director of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, for their profound insights which led to the mapping of the human genetic blueprint.
Collectively, the work of Drs. Lander, Collins and Botstein has unlocked the human genome, paving the way for easier identification and study of genes associated with common diseases such as diabetes, cancer and heart disease, and less common genetic conditions like progeria (premature aging) and Huntington’s disease. Knowledge gleaned from the remarkable Human Genome Project, in which all three played a key role, has led to an explosion of genetic research and will in the future undoubtedly be a key to diagnosing, treating and combating many human disease conditions. Today, scientists across the globe are using this database as the basis to learn more about what is in our genes—not only learning more each day about who we are and our origins as humans, but greatly accelerating our understanding of the fundamentals of human disease and how our genes interact with our environment.
Learn more about this year's recipients.
Learn more about their contributions to the Human Genome Project.
