Abstract

The 1989 Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation Medical Research Awards, given to six scientists for their achievements in the medical sciences and public health administration, were announced last week. The awards, first presented in 1944, are divided into three categories: public service, clinical medical research, and basic medical research. A $15,000 prize is given in each Category. Lewis Thomas, 75, scholar-in-residence at Cornell University Medical College, Ithaca, N.Y., received the 1989 Albert Lasker Public Service Award for his writings, which have heightened and transformed the public’s perception of biomedical science. Thomas, who has published more than 200 scientific papers on virology, immunology, experimental pathology, and infectious diseases, has received more than 20 honorary degrees in science, law, letters, and music. He is also the author of The Lives of a Cell, for which he won a National Book Award, and The Medusa and the Snail, for which he received the American Book Award and the Christopher Award. The 1989 Albert Lasker Clinical Medical Research Award was given to Etienne-Emile Baulieu, 62, professor of biochemistry at the University of Paris School of Medicine, Paris-Sud, France. Baulieu was honored for his contributions to the field of steroid hormone biosynthesis in