“I’m probably the first high school-dropout to sit on this stage,” 2026 Public Service Award winner Michael J. Fox says during his #LaskerAward acceptance speech. Fox reflects on his journey from founding the Fox Foundation in 2000 to the ongoing fight to “defeat Parkinson’s & all brain diseases.”🧪

When and how did different brain regions diversify from one another? The lineage tracing studies of mouse embryos presented by Rayyan T. Jokhai et al. at Stanford University support the existence of two neural ectoderm progenitors, each restricted to form specific brain regions. 🧪 Via Nature

Two parallel neural ectoderm progenitors contribute to the developing brain | Nature Neuroscience

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Happy birthday, James Fujimoto! 🎂 🧪 Fujimoto of Massachusetts Institute of Technology won a 2023 Lasker Award for the invention of optical coherence tomography. This tech revolutionized ophthalmology—allowing rapid detection of diseases of the retina that impair vision. 👀 Watch how it works:

Optical Coherence Tomography: A New Way of Seeing

The 2023 Lasker~DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award honors James G. Fujimoto, David Huang, and Eric A. Swanson for the invention of optical coherence tomography, a technology that revolutionized ophthalmology—allowing rapid detection of diseases of the retina that impair vision.

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“Their collective research efforts demonstrate how imagination, determination, & multidisciplinary scientific research come together to improve patients’ lives,” William Pao writes of the Clinical Medical Research Lasker Award winners in @pnas.org. 🧪 #LaskerAward #Lasker2026

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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly…

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Robert G. Edwards was born #OTD. Edwards became a #LaskerLaureate in 2001 for developing in vitro fertilization, a technology that revolutionized treatment for infertility. Millions of babies have been conceived through IVF, but developing it took decades. 🧪 Edwards shares the seminal research:

Classic Lasker: Robert G. Edwards

What was life like for Lasker Laureates while they were doing their Award-winning work? Listen in as Award Winners share their personal stories. You will hear about starting off in research during a World War, learn how Laureates navigated family and career, and find out how

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Happy 98th birthday, Elizabeth F. Neufeld! 🎉 She established the foundation for understanding lysosomal storage diseases by demonstrating that these disorders stem from defects in degradative enzymes. This work won her a 1982 Lasker Award. #WomenInSTEM 🧪 Read her advice: http://ow.ly/9KRV50K5P2G

Happy 92nd birthday, Clay M. Armstrong! 🎂 🧪 Armstrong of the University of Pennsylvania won a Basic Medical Research #LaskerAward in 1999 for his studies of the function and structure of ion channels. Read more: http://ow.ly/xduD30lRPtK

We’re thrilled to announce the 2026-27 Lasker Clinical Research Scholars Program! 🧪 Scholars receive 5-7 yrs of support as an independent PI in the NIH Intramural Research Program, followed by 3 yrs of continued financial support. Deadline to apply is Nov. 6. Find out more: irp.nih.gov/lasker.

🎥 Watch for an explainer of the science behind the 2026 Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award. #Lasker2026 #LaskerAward Stanford Medicine 🧪

Unlocking a Secret to Sleep and Wakefulness

The 2026 Lasker Basic Medical Research Award honors Emmanuel Mignot and Masashi Yanagisawa for identification of orexin, a brain peptide that maintains wakefulness, and the discovery that orexin deficiency causes uncontrolled sleep in narcolepsy—revealing a key insight into the nature of sleep.

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American actor, activist, and #LaskerLaureate Christopher Reeve was born #OTD. ❤️‍🩹 Reeve was recognized with the Public Service Award in 2003 for his perceptive, sustained, and heroic advocacy for medical research. “I truly believe that nothing is impossible,” he told us in an interview. 🧪 Listen:

Christopher Reeve: From Superman to Patient Advocate

In May of 1995, a man was thrown from his horse during an equestrian competition and broke his neck, becoming paralyzed from the shoulders down. This would be a life-altering injury for anyone, but this man was Christopher Reeve, the actor who played Superman from 1978 to 1987. After his accident, Reeve became a forceful and eloquent advocate for federal funding of medical research. In 2003, he received the Public Service Lasker Award.

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“The discovery of orexins & their link to narcolepsy became central for understanding sleep–wake regulation itself.” 🧪Sebastiaan Overeem & Birgitte R. Kornum report in @nejm.org on the pivotal roles that #LaskerAward winners Mignot & Yanagisawa had in the discovery of orexin: buff.ly/T3CPftu

Meet the 2026 #LaskerAward recipients, recognized for their groundbreaking contributions to science and medicine. In partnership with Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation, PNAS highlights the work of this year’s recipients. Explore the collection: https://ow.ly/X75b50ZPafm #Lasker2026 #LaskerLaureate

1958 #LaskerAward winner Theodore Puck was born #OTD. 🧪 🔬Puck’s highly imaginative investigations made it possible to cultivate single mammalian cell types, opening new possibilities for biomedical research. Find out more: http://ow.ly/Ph9W50KkWp5

André Cournand of Columbia University was born #OTD. 🧪 🫀 He won a Basic Medical Research Lasker Award in 1949 for his contributions to the physiology of circulation and the diagnosis and treatment of heart disease, especially for his development of cardiac catheterization: http://ow.ly/eL6c50FTMBj

"Epidemiology itself is the study of uncertainty in populations." Physician-scientist Marzieh Ghiasi discusses the role of uncertainty in scientific research. #MedSky #SciSky 🧪

Ask a Scientist: Marzieh Ghiasi

A physician-scientist discusses the role of uncertainty in scientific research.

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#ICYMI: We celebrated our 2026 #LaskerAward winners last week in New York City! 🎉 🧪 A big congratulations to our Basic Award winners Masashi Yanagisawa and Emmanuel Mignot, Clinical Award winners Tomoyuki Igawa, Takehisa Kitazawa, and Kunihiro Hattori, & Public Service Award winner Michael J. Fox.

Lasker has partnered with @pnas.org to celebrate our 2026 Awardees. #LaskerLaureate Jeffrey M. Friedman writes, “In an extraordinary convergence, Emmanuel Mignot & Masashi Yanagisawa employed 2 entirely different approaches to establish the pathogenesis of narcolepsy, a devastating sleep disorder.”🧪

To sleep and dream: Unraveling narcolepsy | PNAS

In an extraordinary convergence, Emmanuel Mignot and Masashi Yanagisawa employed two entirely different approaches to establish the pathogenesis of...

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🎞️ Watch for an explainer of the science behind the 2026 Lasker~DeBakey Clinical Medical Research award. #Lasker2026 #LaskerAward 🧪

A Bispecific Antibody to Treat Hemophilia A

The 2026 Lasker~DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award honors Kunihiro Hattori, Tomoyuki Igawa, and Takehisa Kitazawa for invention of a bispecific antibody that joins blood clotting Factors IX and X—restoring deficient Factor VIII activity in hemophilia A and preventing severe bleeding in this genetic disorder.

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How wonderful it was to see five of our inaugural Video Contest winners at the Lasker Award celebration last week! 🧪 📸 From left to right: Sai Krishna Bhamidipati, Dimitri Seneviratne, Max Bucklan, Colette Benko, and Lindsey Ramirez.

Cyril A. Clarke was born #OTD in 1907. 🧪 Clarke was recognized with a Lasker Clinical Medical Research Award for illuminating the genetics of Rh antigen and for directing essential research on hemolytic disease in newborns: http://ow.ly/LcfQ50FTMYu

It’s #NationalProstateCancerAwarenessMonth, and Charles Huggins was born #OTD in 1901. ❤️‍🩹 🧪 Huggins won a Clinical Medical Research Lasker Award for demonstrating that prostate cancer could be treated with estrogen, the first evidence of a hormonal treatment for cancer: http://ow.ly/QQ7150FTMVc

During his #LaskerAward acceptance speech, Michael J. Fox called on the audience to “urge your professional societies, research institutes, health systems and policymakers to support investment that will defeat PD and brain disease.” 🧪More on the Public Service Award: https://ow.ly/TWZK50ZPK8L

Four Japanese scientists have received the Lasker Awards, a prestigious science prize often seen as a precursor to a Nobel Prize.

Four Japanese scientists win prestigious U.S. Lasker Awards

One received the prize for his work on a sleep-regulating brain chemical, and a trio, for discovering an antibody therapy for hemophilia A patients.

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Today is #WorldAlzheimersDay. Launched by Alzheimer's Disease International in 1994, this globally recognized day acknowledges that more than 55 million people live with dementia worldwide. It aims to educate the public, encourage early diagnosis, and support caregivers and families. ❤️‍🩹 🧪

Happy birthday, Lauren Gardner! 🧪 Gardner is a 2022 #LaskerLaureate, recognized for the creation of the COVID-19 Dashboard. The Dashboard wasn’t only instrumental during the pandemic—it set a new standard for disseminating authoritative #PublicHealth data: https://ow.ly/68kL50PGZWT #WomenInSTEM

Modeling Disease Spread With Lauren Gardner

Hear how systems engineer and Lasker Laureate Lauren Gardner explores the interplay between disease spread and human movement. She also shares how to deal with uncertainty and setbacks in research.

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Chasing the question not the method...

Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation@laskerfdn.bsky.social · 2w ago

“Like many of you, I have always been fascinated by science. My reason is simple. It works,” Emmanuel Mignot says during his #Lasker2026 acceptance speech. Hear more about his path that took him “from pharmacology to genetics, even to zebrafish, and lately to immunology.” 🧪

🧪 Research gets personal: during his Clinical Medical Award acceptance speech, #LaskerLaureate Tomoyuki Igawa shared a profound, intimate moment that influenced his pursuit of a treatment for hemophilia A. 🎞️ Watch here.

💡What better calling is there than science? 🧪 Learn more about Emmanuel Mignot and Masashi Yanasigawa, our 2026 Basic Medical Research #LaskerAward winners: https://ow.ly/NH8Z50ZPgZF

Masashi Yanasigawa shares moments from early on in his career—and the power of friendly competition with the late David Mangelsdorf at UT Southwestern. 🧪 🎬 Watch a clip from Yanagisawa’s #Lasker2026 acceptance speech:

“I’m probably the first high school-dropout to sit on this stage,” 2026 Public Service Award winner Michael J. Fox says during his #LaskerAward acceptance speech. Fox reflects on his journey from founding the Fox Foundation in 2000 to the ongoing fight to “defeat Parkinson’s & all brain diseases.”🧪