Lasker Award 2001 – Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Dr. William Foege advises the foundation on strategies that could be usefully pursued in global health. He has served in a variety of executive positions at the Carter Center, and is senior investigator on child development at the Task Force for Child Survival and Development as well as Presidential Distinguished Professor of International Health at the Rollins School of Public Health. By writing and lecturing extensively, Dr. Foege continues to broaden public awareness of the issues of child survival and development, population, preventive medicine and public health leadership. In 1997 he was named Fellow of the London School of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. Dr. Foege helped form the Task Force for Child Survival in 1984 to accelerate childhood immunization. In the 1970s he worked in the successful campaign to eradicate smallpox and served at director of the U.S. Center for Disease Control. He attended Pacific Lutheran University, received his medical degree from the University of Washington and his Master’s in Public Health from Harvard University.

Lasker Awards
The Lasker Awards in Basic and Clinical Medical Research, and Public Service have been given since 1945 to recognize the contributions of scientists, physicians, and public servants who have made major advances in the understanding, diagnosis, treatment, cure, and prevention of human disease. For more information on this year’s recipients, visit the Lasker Foundation Web site.

Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation
The mission of the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation is to enlarge public awareness, appreciation, and understanding of promising achievements in medical science in order to increase public support for research.