Sir David Weatherall wins top US medical prize

Health | Science 21 Sep 10 - Sir David Weatherall of Oxford University has been awarded a Lasker Award, the most significant US prize for medical research with many past award winners subsequently going on to receive Nobel prizes. He is the only person outside America to win the award this year. The $250,000 prize recognises his research on genetic diseases of the blood and his leadership in improving clinical care for thousands of children with thalassaemia throughout the developing world. The 2010 Lasker~Koshland Special Achievement Award will be presented to Sir David for '50 years of international statesmanship in biomedical science', the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation has announced. Sir David's research over the last 50 years has greatly advanced our understanding of thalassaemia, a set of inherited blood disorders that affect the body's ability to create red blood cells and can lead to anaemia of different severities. As well as using a range of approaches to determine the molecular and genetic causes of thalassaemia, he has been able to improve clinical treatment of the disease and change its care for the better worldwide, particularly in the developing world. 'It's a tremendous honour to be given this award,' said Sir David Weatherall, emeritus professor of medicine at the University of Oxford.