HEALTH REPORT - Lasker Awards for Medical Research

HEALTH REPORT -October 9, 2002: Lasker Awards for Medical Research

By Nancy Steinbach

This is the VOA Special English Health Report.

The Albert Lasker Medical Research Awards were presented last month. The awards honor scientists and doctors
whose work has improved the understanding, prevention, treatment and cure of many dangerous diseases.

The director of the National Institutes of Health, Elias Zerhouni, spoke¹ at the awards ceremony in New York
City. He spoke about the social importance of medical research at a time of rising health costs in the United
States.

The Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research was given to James Rothman of the Sloan-Kettering Institute in
New York and Randy Schekman of the University of California at Berkeley.

Their discoveries concerned the movement of proteins from one part of a cell to another part. Scientists say their
work provided new and needed information about the structure of a cell.

Experts say their findings increase the understanding of diseases caused by genetic² changes and the production of
proteins, hormones³ and chemicals.

The Lasker Award for Clinical Medical Research went to Willem Kolff of the University of Utah School of
Medicine and Belding Scribner of the University of Washington School of Medicine. They developed a man-
made or artificial kidney that permits millions of people around the world to live with kidney failure. The
invention is the only man-made device that can permanently⁴ replace a necessary body organ.

The Special Achievement in Medical Research Award went to James Darnell of Rockefeller University in New
York. Doctor Darnell was honored for his forty-five years of work in genetics. The award committee said Doctor
Darnell has expanded two areas of biology and increased the understanding of the genetic material R-N-A. He
was also recognized for teaching and supporting the work of more than one-hundred-twenty-five scientists.

The Albert Lasker Medical Research Awards have been presented each year since nineteen-forty-six. They were
started by Albert and Mary Lasker.

Many medical experts consider the Lasker Awards to be the American Nobel Prizes. Sixty-five Lasker Award
winners have later received the Nobel Prize. In the past ten years, every scientist who has won a Nobel Prize had
earlier received a Lasker Award in Medical Research.

This VOA Special English Health Report was written by Nancy Steinbach.

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1 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

2 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

3 hormones   

n. 荷尔蒙，激素 名词hormone的复数形式

参考例句：

• This hormone interacts closely with other hormones in the body. 这种荷尔蒙与体內其他荷尔蒙紧密地相互作用。
• The adrenals produce a large per cent of a man's sex hormones. 肾上腺分泌人体的大部分性激素。

4 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。