The Warren Alpert Foundation Prize is awarded annually to scientist(s) whose scientific achievements have led to the prevention, cure or treatment of human diseases or disorders, and/or whose research constitutes a seminal scientific finding that holds great promise of ultimately changing our understanding of or ability to treat disease. The prize was established in 1987 by the late philanthropist and businessman Warren Alpert[1] and the Warren Alpert Foundation.
The Warren Alpert Prize is given internationally and since its inception, 10 winners have gone on to win Nobel Prizes.[2]
The prize is administered in concert with Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts and the Warren Alpert Foundation, located in Providence, Rhode Island. An annual symposium is held at Harvard Medical School each fall where the recipient(s) present their work. The prize currently includes $500,000,[3] a citation and plaque.
| Year | Recipient(s) | Citation | Nationality | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | David J. Lipman | For his visionary work in the conception, design, and implementation of computational tools, databases, and infrastructure that transformed the way biological information is analyzed and accessed freely and rapidly around the world. | ||
| 2022 | Katalin Karikó, Drew Weissman, Eric Huang, Uğur Şahin, Özlem Türeci | For transformational discoveries into the biology of mRNA, for its modification for medicinal use, and for the design of mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines. | ||
| 2021 | Lynne Maquat, Joan Steitz | For the discovery of fundamental pathways and mechanisms that ensure accurate RNA splicing and quality control of gene expression involving RNA.[4] |  | |
| 2020 | Daniel Drucker, Joel Habener, Jens Juul Holst | For identifying Glucagon-like peptides and leading the field with studies extending from cells to humans, culminating in the development of these peptides as therapeutic agents for treating diabetes and short bowel syndrome. |  | |
| 2019 | Ed Boyden, Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann, Gero Miesenböck | For pioneering work in the field of optogenetics, a revolutionary technique that uses light and genetic modification to control the activity of cells in the brain. | ||
| 2018 | Francis Collins, Paul Negulescu, Bonnie Ramsey, Lap-Chee Tsui, Michael J. Welsh | For identifying faulty gene behind devastating disease, development of precision-targeted therapies |  | |
| 2017 | Arlene Sharpe, Harvard Medical School, Gordon J. Freeman, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Lieping Chen, Yale University, James P. Allison, University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Tasuku Honjo, Kyoto University | For their collective contributions to the pre-clinical foundation and development of immune checkpoint blockade, a novel form of cancer therapy that has transformed the landscape of cancer treatment. |  | |
| 2016 | Rodolphe Barrangou, North Carolina State University, Philippe Horvath, DuPont, Jennifer Doudna, University of California, Berkeley, Emmanuelle Charpentier, Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology and Umeå University, Virginijus Šikšnys, Vilnius University Institute of Biotechnology | For their remarkable contributions to the understanding of the CRISPR bacterial defense system and the revolutionary discovery that it can be adapted for genome editing [5] | 
| |
| 2015 | Ruth Sonntag Nussenzweig and Victor Nussenzweig, NYU Langone Medical Center, Tu Youyou of the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing | For their pioneering discoveries in chemistry and parasitology, and their personal commitment to translating these discoveries into effective chemotherapeutic and vaccine-based approaches to controlling malaria[6] |  | |
| 2014 | Oleh Hornykiewicz, Medical University of Vienna, Roger A. Nicoll, University of California, San Francisco, Solomon H. Snyder, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine | For seminal contributions to our understanding of neurotransmission and neurodegeneration.[7] |  | |
| 2013 | David Botstein, Princeton University, Ronald W. Davis, Stanford University School of Medicine, and David Hogness, Stanford University School of Medicine | For their seminal contributions to the concepts and methods of creating a genetic map in the human, and of positional cloning, leading to the identification of thousands of human disease genes and ushering in the era of human genetics.[8] | | |
| 2012 | Julian Adams, Infinity Pharmaceuticals, Kenneth C. Anderson, Dana–Farber Cancer Institute, Alfred L. Goldberg, Harvard Medical School, and Paul G. Richardson, Dana–Farber Cancer Institute[9] | For the discovery, preclinical and clinical development of bortezomib to FDA approval and front line therapy for the treatment of patients with multiple myeloma.[10] | | |
| 2011 | For their application of bioengineering principles to fundamental improvements in human health.[11] |
| ||
| 2009-2010 | Howard Green, Harvard Medical School | For development of methodologies for the expansion and differentiation of human keratinocyte stem cells for permanent skin restoration in victims of extensive burns.[12] | | |
| 2008 | Lloyd Aiello, Joslin Diabetes Center | For the discovery, characterization and implementation of laser panretinal photocoagulation, which is used to treat proliferative diabetic retinopathy | | |
| 2007 | Harald zur Hausen and Lutz Gissmann, German Cancer Research Center | For work leading to the development of a vaccine against human papillomavirus.[13] |  | |
| 2006 | Dennis Slamon, UCLA; Robert Weinberg, MIT; Michael Shepard, Receptor BioLogix, Inc; and Axel Ullrich, Center for Molecular Medicine, | For their work in identifying HER-2/neu as an oncogene and development of the anti-HER-2/neu monoclonal antibody Herceptin for breast cancer therapy.[14] | | |
| 2005 | For discovering tumor angiogenesis, and for pioneering work in the development of antiangiogenic therapies for cancer. | | ||
| 2004 | For her seminal contributions to the understanding of how the antitumor agent Taxol kills cancer cells. | |||
| 2003 | Sidney Pestka, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, David Goeddel, Tularik, Inc., and Charles Weissmann, Imperial College School of Medicine, London | For purification and characterization of interferon alpha; cloning of the human interferon alpha gene and mass production of recombinant interferon alpha for cancer treatment and treatment of hepatitis C. | | |
| 2002 | For epidemiologic insight into the effects of Vitamin A deficiency, and the resulting reduction in childhood mortality worldwide. | | ||
| 2001 | Eugene Braunwald, Harvard Medical School, and Barry Coller, Rockefeller University School of Medicine. | For work in cardiac physiology and pathophysiology, leading to the use of monoclonal antibodies to platelet surface antigens in antithrombotic therapy. | | |
| 2000 | David Baltimore, California Institute of Technology, Brian Druker, Oregon Health Sciences University, Nicholas Lydon, Amgen, Inc., Alex Matter, Novartis Pharma AG, and Owen Witte, University of California, Los Angeles. | | ||
| 1999 | Michael S. Brown and Joseph L. Goldstein, University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, Akira Endo (biochemist), Tokyo Noko University | For Development of HMG CoA reductase inhibitors. | | |
| 1998 | K. Frank Austen, Harvard Medical School | For elucidating the role of leukotrienes in asthma. | | |
| 1997 | Robert C. Gallo, University of Maryland School of Medicine, and Luc Montagnier, Queens College, New York | For isolation of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus. | | |
| 1996 | For discovery of blood cell growth factors. |   | ||
| 1995 | John A. Clements, University of California, San Francisco | For discovery of lung surfactant, and development of synthetic lung surfactant therapy for Infant Respiratory Distress Syndrome. | | |
| 1994 | J.R. Warren, Royal Perth Hospital, and Barry J. Marshall, University of Virginia | For linking gastric ulcers to the H. pylori bacterium. | | |
| 1993 | Stuart H. Orkin, Harvard Medical School. | For genetic and molecular mechanisms of Βeta-Thalassemia and other blood disorders. | | |
| 1992 | For treatment for Gaucher's Disease. | | ||
| 1991 | David W. Cushman and Miguel A. Ondetti, Bristol Myers-Squibb | For ACE inhibitor therapy for hypertension and heart failure. |  | |
| 1990 | No prize awarded. | |||
| 1989 | Yuet Wai Kan, University of California, San Francisco | For prenatal genetic screening for blood diseases. | | |
| 1988 | Louis Kunkel, Harvard Medical School | For discovery of the gene associated with a major form of muscular dystrophy. | | |
| 1987 | For development of a vaccine against Hepatitis B. |
