2020 Jessie Stevenson Kovalenko Medal for Outstanding Research in the Medical Sciences – Call for Nominations
Reporter: Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN
SOURCE
Scheduled for presentation in 2020. Nominations accepted online through Monday, October 7, 2019.
About the Jessie Stevenson Kovalenko Medal
The Jessie Stevenson Kovalenko Medal is awarded every two years for outstanding research in the medical sciences. The medal carries with it a $25,000 award, and an additional $50,000 for research. The Kovalenko Fund, gifted by Michael S. Kovalenko in 1949 to the National Academy of Science in memory of his wife, Jessie Stevenson Kovalenko, was specifically designed to recognize the achievements made to the medical sciences and, over the past 67 years, has honored many outstanding contributors.
Most Recent Recipient
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James P. Allison, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, received the 2018 Jessie Stevenson Kovalenko Medal.
Allison’s pioneering research has had a vast impact on cancer therapy and the evolution of the entire field of cancer immunology. His work has advanced science while improving the health and wellbeing of cancer patients worldwide, a process that continues to this day. Read more about Allison’s work»
Award History
The first Jessie Stevenson Kovalenko Medal was awarded to Alfred N. Richards in 1952 for his outstanding contributions to medical science over a period of a half-century, both as an investigator and as a research executive and administrator. Richards received his first honor in 1897, when he became the first graduate student at Columbia to earn his PhD in physiological chemistry. Richards’ early research focused on the liver and chronic indole poisoning as a possible cause for cyclic vomiting in children although later, he notably sought to study the physiological and ecological effects of the atomic bomb. Richards served as Chairman of the Committee on Medical Research for President Roosevelt and, from 1947-1950, he served as the National Academy of Sciences’ own President, overseeing the establishment of the National Science Foundation.
Recipients:
James P. Allison (2018)
For the discovery that antibody blockade of the T cell molecule CTLA-4 unleashes the body’s immune response against malignant tumors and develops immune checkpoint blockade as a successful cancer therapy.
Read more about Allison’s work»
Watch Allison’s acceptance speech»
Huda Y. Zoghbi (2016)
For her pioneering contributions to the fields of neurodegenerative proteinopathies, autism spectrum disorders, epigenetics, and developmental biology by coupling clinical observation and gene discovery with focused, in-depth mechanistic study.
Read more about Zoghbi’s work»
For his pioneering achievements in defining the molecular basis of blood disorders and the mechanisms governing the development of blood stem cells and individual blood lineages. His work has significantly advanced our understanding of human hematologic diseases and revealed new strategies to prevent and manage these disorders.
For the discovery of leptin and its role in the regulation of appetite, energy expenditure, and the molecular mechanisms underlying obesity.
For his seminal studies that defined the physical properties, purification, and growth regulation of multipotent hematopoietic stem cells.
For his studies of the Hageman trait, an experiment of nature that improved understanding of such bodily defenses as the formation and dissolution of blood clots, inflammation, and immunity.
For his pioneering and influential studies in basic immunology, immune complex disease, immune deficiency disorders, and lymphocytic membrane markers.
For his immeasurable contribution to the diagnosis and treatment of human disease during his career, which was devoted to the physiology and chemistry of respiration and the mechanical and chemical properties of the human lung.
For furthering the essential understanding of balance between hereditary and other biological factors, on the one hand, and psychosocial experimental ones, on the other, in the pathogenesis and manifestations of schizophrenia.
For his discovery and application of coumarin anticoagulants.
For his notable role in advancing our knowledge of lobar pneumonia and in establishing clinical investigation as a science.
For his contributions of many biological discoveries basic for advances in clinical and experimental medicine.
For his outstanding contributions to medical sciences as an investigator, teacher, and administrator over a period of half a century.
For his outstanding contributions to medical science and for a life of exemplary devotion to medical education and inquiry into the origins of disease.
For his outstanding contributions to medical science and for long and continued devotion to the study of his chosen field of pathology.
For his outstanding contributions to medical science over a period of a half-century, both as an investigator and as a research executive and administrator.
SOURCE
http://www.nasonline.org/programs/awards/kovalenko-medal.html
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