Research!America to Recognize Dr. Francis Collins and Other Leaders in Medical and Health Research
Francis S. Collins, MD, PhD, will be honored with the John Edward Porter Legacy Award, generously supported by Ann Lurie. The award honors individuals who show outstanding commitment to sustaining the nation’s world-class leadership in medical and health research. Dr. Collins has been Director of the National Institutes of Health since 2009, serving under three different presidents. Just last week he announced his intention to step down by the end of the year (read our statement about Dr. Collins’s tenure as the NIH Director).
Dr. Collins is one of five awardees in the initial group of Research!America Advocacy Award honorees for 2022, finalized by the Board of Directors in July. The awards recognize individuals and organizations whose leadership efforts have advanced the nation’s commitment to medical, health, and scientific research.
The other distinguished awardees are as follows:
- France A. Córdova, PhD, president of the Science Philanthropy Alliance, and former director of the National Science Foundation, will receive the Geoffrey Beene Foundation Builders of Science Award, which recognizes those who have provided inspiration and determination in building an outstanding home for research.
- Neal F. Lane, PhD, professor of physics and astronomy (emeritus), Malcolm Gillis university professor (emeritus); senior fellow, Baker Institute for Public Policy, Rice University; and former director of the National Science Foundation and science advisor to the president, will receive the Herbert Pardes Family Award for National Leadership in Advocacy for Research, which recognizes individuals who, throughout their careers, have demonstrated distinguished leadership and sustained commitment to public engagement and advocacy for research.
- Jed Manocherian, chairman and founder of ACT for NIH, will receive the Gordon and Llura Gund Leadership Award, which recognizes individuals who have made a significant contribution to increasing the level of advocacy for medical and health research at the local, state, or national level.
- Alliance for Aging Research, will receive the Paul G. Rogers Distinguished Organization Advocacy Award, which recognizes a public or private organization that is a strong advocate for medical and health research at the national, state, or local level.
Additional honorees – for the Outstanding Achievement for Public Health Awards, the Isadore Rosenfeld Award for Impact on Public Opinion, and the Edwin C. Whitehead Award for Medical Research Advocacy – will be announced in the coming weeks.
Susan Dentzer, chair of Research!America’s Board of Directors, saluted the awardees announced today: “These leaders, whether as individuals or as an organization, serve to inspire future generations of scientists and health research advocates.”
“We are proud to recognize our outstanding 2022 honorees for advancing our nation’s commitment to research,” Mary Woolley, president and CEO of Research!America, stated. “In different ways, each honoree has accelerated the pace of research progress, strengthened the research enterprise, and increased public and policymaker engagement in medical and health research.”
Presentation of all the Advocacy Awards for 2022 will be made at Research!America’s annual awards event on March 16, 2022. (An in-person event is being planned, but it may convert to a virtual or hybrid event on the same date if necessary.) Research!America has hosted the annual Advocacy Awards since 1996.
For more information about the 2022 Advocacy Awards, including bios of each honoree and details about the various awards, visit: www.researchamerica.org/advocacy_awards
Questions? Contact us at awards@researchamerica.org; or media should contact Tim Haynes, thaynes@researchamerica.org.
###