Pioneers in psychotherapy and cell biology and three scientists who discovered a crucial enzyme linked to cancer and aging are being awarded prestigious medical prizes.
The $100,000 prizes from the Albert & Mary Lasker Foundation will be presented Friday in New York.
The Lasker award for clinical medical research goes to Aaron Beck, 85, emeritus professor of psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. He developed cognitive therapy, which has transformed the treatment of such psychiatric conditions as depression, suicidal behavior, panic attacks and eating disorders, the foundation said.
Beck proposed that depression resulted from unduly negative beliefs and bias against oneself rather than unconscious drives. He led his patients to examine the accuracy of such beliefs, a process that did indeed lift depression.
The approach has since been adapted to other psychiatric conditions.
"Beck has made a huge impact on untold numbers of people, relieving immeasurable amounts of suffering," the foundation said.
The prize for special achievement in medical science goes to Joseph Gall, 78, of the Carnegie Institution's embryology department in Baltimore. He is being honored as a founder of modern cell biology and of the study of structure and function of chromosomes, and for being an early champion of women in science.
Nearly 40 years ago, Gall and a graduate student devised one of the most widely used techniques in cell biology, called in situ hybridization, which lets scientists locate genes or other specific bits of DNA within tissues or cells.
Three scientists share the Lasker prize for basic medical research for predicting and discovering an enzyme called telomerase. They are Elizabeth Blackburn, 57, of the University of California, San Francisco; Carol W. Greider, 45, of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, and Jack W. Szostak, 53, of Harvard Medical School.
Telomerase adds DNA to the tips of chromosomes to replace genetic material that has eroded away.
The prize-winners' work set the stage for research suggesting that cancer cells use telomerase to sustain their uncontrolled growth. Scientists are studying whether drugs that block the enzyme can fight the disease. In addition, scientists believe that the DNA erosion the enzyme repairs might play a role in age-related illnesses.
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On the Net:
Lasker Foundation: http://www.laskerfoundation.org
