Researchers Win Coveted Lasker Awards

Three renowned scientists who made discoveries that advanced understanding of genetics and biology—and that led to the development of new cancer therapies—have been honored for their work with prestigious prizes from the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation. Among the most coveted honors in medicine, the awards each carry an honorarium of $250,000.

Evelyn M. Witkin, PhD, professor emerita at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey in New Brunswick, and Stephen J. Elledge, PhD, a professor of genetics at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, MA, shared the 2015 Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award for their studies illuminating the fundamentals of the DNA-damage response. James P. Allison, PhD, chair of Immunology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, received the 2015 Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award for the discovery and development of a monoclonal antibody therapy that releases the brakes on the immune system so that it can combat cancer.

Witkin began her work in 1944, studying the basis for radiation resistance. X-rays and ultraviolet light were known to cause inherited mutations, but the question of how remained a mystery. Working with bacteria, she exposed 50,000 cells to a very high dose of UV light, killing all but four. Those cells, Witkin discovered, overcame sensitivity to radiation by initiating what is now known as the DNA-damage response, which detects anomalies in DNA as well as genetic processes, such as DNA copying during cell division, that have gone awry. Alerted to the problems, cells trigger protective mechanisms to make repairs and ensure their survival.

Working with yeast four decades later, Elledge began to build on Witkin's work by elucidating a signaling system that spurred multiple genes to produce proteins that contribute to DNA repair. He went on to detail the molecular pathway by which cells in more complex organisms, including humans, detect and fix damaged DNA, an essential ability for the prevention of cancer.

Rather than prevent cancer, Allison wanted to attack cancer that had already been diagnosed. He showed that the protein CTLA-4 limited T-cell activation, reining in the immune system. By suppressing CTLA-4, he found that disease-fighting T cells could be unleashed and destroy malignant cells. That discovery led to the development and approval of the CTLA-4–inhibiting drug ipilimumab (Yervoy; Bristol-Myers Squibb), a treatment that has prolonged the lives of countless patients with metastatic melanoma. Researchers are now studying the drug as a treatment for other malignancies, including lung cancer and renal cell carcinoma.

The Lasker winners “have opened up new frontiers,” said Lasker Foundation President Claire Pomeroy, who bestowed the awards during a ceremony in New York, NY, on September 18. “They remind us all that investing in biological sciences and medical research is crucial for our future.”

Established in 1942, the Lasker Foundation strives to improve health by advocating for support of medical research. For 70 years, its eponymous awards have recognized “the contributions of scientists, clinicians and public servants who have made major advances in the understanding, diagnosis, treatment, cure, or prevention of human disease.”

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