Laskers back for 1991

Article Abstract:

The Lasker Awards in medicine and basic science, presented by the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation over the last 44 years, will be back again in 1991 after a brief interruption in 1990. The awards took a six-month-long 'sabbatical' while the foundation evaluated its activities and finances. The prizes, amounting to $15,000, are presented at a ceremony presided over by heart surgeon Michael DeBakey; forty-nine winners have gone on to receive the Nobel prize. The goal of the foundation is to encourage public support of medical research, and Mary Lasker has exerted her considerable influence on political figures to promote health issues. For instance, the 'War on Cancer' of the 1970s was mounted largely as a result of her efforts. Another concern of Ms. Lasker's has been hypertension (high blood pressure). Basic science awards made by the Lasker Foundation have been publicized in more recent years, but the scales may now be shifting again toward applied research. The foundation's vice-president stressed the importance of recognizing the 'human significance' of research that is not basic in nature. As Mary Lasker grows older (she is in her ninth decade of life), the ways the foundation exerts influence will most certainly change. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Medicine, Political activity, Achievements and awards, Science and technology policy, Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation, Lasker, Mary

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Stanford psychiatry deal falls through

Article Abstract:

A commitment by private industry to support psychiatric research at Stanford University was abruptly withdrawn because the private company, Charter Medical Corporation, could no longer be sure of making a profit from the plan to build and operate a new hospital. The Charter decision came as a result of decisions by California insurers to limit the amount spent on psychiatric patients. It was also probably influenced by the recent crash of Drexel Burnham Lambert, of which Charter was a client. The proposed hospital, which was to be an 80-bed facility, would have given Stanford a chance to upgrade its clinical psychiatric service to the level of its excellent biological psychiatric program. Some industry-university collaborations are more reliable, such as the link between Monsanto and Washington University in St. Louis, where company scientists benefit from intellectual ties to the academic community. Charter Medical Corporation, on the other hand, is a profit-oriented hospital chain based in Georgia. Its primary motivation was financial. The change forces Stanford to begin searching for a funding source to support the expansion of its psychiatry department. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Case studies, Economic aspects, Profits, Psychiatric research, Hospitals, University, University hospitals, Psychiatric hospitals, Stanford University, Corporate profits

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