Dr. Meng-Ping Tu and senior Stella Ng were invited by the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation to attend its annual prestigious Lasker Awards ceremony and luncheon on Friday, September 21st! Since 1945, the Lasker Foundation has been awarding scientists for making groundbreaking discoveries that open new fields of medical research and improve human lives. Sometimes referred to as "America's Nobel," the Lasker Award is famous for predicting future Nobel Prize laureates. In the past two decades, 32 Lasker laureates went on to win Nobel prizes. In fact, James Allison, a 2015 Lasker Award winner, won the 2018 Nobel Prize for Medicine. This year, four renowned scientists, C. David Allis and Michael Grunstein, John B. Glen, and Joan Steitz, were honored for their work in advancing medicine and biomedical research, ranging from discovering a compound that revolutionized modern anesthesiology as we know it, to shedding light on the biology of histones, the beads that DNA is wrapped around for packaging. Dr. Tu and Ng had breakfast with the awardees at the round-table, taking turns to ask the laureates compelling questions along with MD-PhD students, essay contests winners, and post-doc scholars who were also invited to attend the breakfast. The laureates spoke about their perseverance in facing obstacles and their underlying motivation in continuing the research they are passionate about. They eagerly related entertaining anecdotes and imparted helpful advice to the young scientists. During the conversation, the laureates also touched upon the important topic of how to encourage young students to pursue science and research. After breakfast, Dr. Tu and Ng networked with scholars and took many photos to commemorate the unforgettably inspiring experience! Photos will appear in this week's update. Many thanks to Ms. Ng's contribution to this post.
