FNIH Awards Ceremony
The 12th Annual FNIH Awards Ceremony celebrated early-career scientists, the power of partnership, and exceptional life science journalism. Notable events included announcing the initiation of an endowment for the newly renamed Paul-Gallin Trailblazer Prize for Physician-Scientists, an annual award given to a physician whose research has the potential to transform patient care.
The new name honors two important physician-scientists, Steven Paul, MD, and the late John Gallin, MD. Dr. Paul is the Chair of the FNIH Board of Directors and has made a generous $1 million gift to initiate the endowment. Dr. Gallin was the longest-serving director of the NIH Clinical Center. He and his wife, Elaine Gallin, PhD, created the Trailblazer Prize in 2018 in partnership with the FNIH.
“Early-career physician-scientists play a critical role in translating basic science discoveries to bedside care,” said FNIH President and CEO Julie L. Gerberding, MD, MPH. “Their clinical insights are uniquely valuable in motivating novel approaches to complex illnesses. We are very grateful for Steve’s generous contribution in recognizing these important investigators.”
Donations may be made to support the Trailblazer Prize by visiting FNIH.org/Gallin.
Awards Ceremony Highlights
More Awards Ceremony highlights include:
The Lurie Prize in Biomedical Sciences, which recognizes outstanding achievement by promising scientists aged 52 or younger. The 2024 recipient was Howard Y. Chang, MD, PhD. His work unveiling long noncoding RNA and its role in gene regulation helped shed light on the 98% of the human genome that does not code for proteins. Dr. Chang’s team has published research suggesting that Xist, a type of long noncoding RNA, may help explain why autoimmune diseases are more common in women than men.
The Trailblazer Prize for Physician-Scientists, which recognizes the outstanding contributions of early career clinician-scientists whose work has the potential to transform patient care. The 2024 recipient was Vijay G. Sankaran, MD, PhD. He and his team have made significant advances in the understanding of human blood cell development in health and diseases, including sickle cell anemia, cancer, and rare blood disorders.
The Charles A. Sanders, M.D. Partnership Award, which highlights our unique ability to convene the best and the brightest to form innovative and impactful public-private partnerships. This award is presented to an organization or individual who has exemplified steadfast commitment to our mission. The 2024 recipients were the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, AbbVie, and Robert and Sarah Newcomb.
The Kovler Prize for Trust in Life Science Journalism, which honors work to increase the public’s awareness and understanding of life science. The 2024 recipient was Katherine J. Wu, PhD, a staff writer for The Atlantic.
Social Media Toolkit
Awards Ceremony participants are invited to help us share the excitement. Everything you need can be found in our Awards Ceremony Social Media Toolkit.
Watch Previous Ceremony
2023 Awards Ceremony playlist (YouTube)
Past Recipients
Subsequent achievements by past recipients include:
| Jennifer A. Doudna, Ph.D. 2014 Lurie Prize 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry |
James Chen, Ph.D. 2018 Lurie Prize Recipient 2024 Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award |