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Journey to the Summits of Science: The 2014 Vilcek Foundation Prizes
Author(s) -
Nair Prashant,
Vilcek Tan
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fj.14-0301ufm
Subject(s) - foundation (evidence) , engineering , history , archaeology
Eight years ago, the Vilcek Foundation initiated a program of prizes for foreign-born biomedical scientists who have made major contributions to their fields, while living and working in the United States (1). The purpose of the prizes, which include a cash award of $100,000, is to draw attention to the enormous contribution of immigrant scientists to this country and to celebrate individuals hailing from distant shores without whose hard work the United States would not be the best place in the world for scientific work (2– 4). The individuals chosen to receive the Vilcek Prizes by distinguished juries of peers are widely regarded as international leaders in the life sciences (3). The Vilcek prizes recognize scientists at the pinnacle of their careers. To draw attention to the important role played by a younger generation of foreignborn scientists, the Vilcek Foundation established in 2009 Prizes for Creative Promise in Biomedical Science, open to applicants 38 years of age or younger. Since 2013, three Creative Promise Prizes, each including a cash award of $35,000, are being awarded annually. The Vilcek Foundation prizes are unique, partly because they are awarded to biomedical scientists born outside the United States. Another unique feature of the prizes is the companion Vilcek prizes, given to foreign-born artists living and working in the United States (5). The relationship between the sciences and the arts can be traced back to the dim mists of history, the results of the cross-fertilization resonant in cultural figures of the Renaissance. Yet few accolades jointly recognize the creativity and originality of scientists and artists. The 2014 Vilcek Prize in Biomedical Science honors, for the first time in the prize’s history, a prominent neuroscientist. The three recipients of the Vilcek Prizes for Creative Promise in Biomedical Science represent the fields of molecular genetics, neuroscience, and computational biology. The cartographer of movement: Thomas Jessell, winner of the 2014 Vilcek Prize