2011年阿爾巴尼醫學中心獎(Albany Medical Center Prize)的最高生物醫學獎於3月11日揭曉，3位對於人類幹細胞研究有貢獻的科學家共同榮獲這項殊榮，這3位科學家分別是美國紐約洛勒斐勒大學的Elaine Fuchs，威斯康辛大學麥迪遜校區醫學與公衛學院的James A. Thomson和京都大學的Shinya Yamanaka
阿爾巴尼醫學中心獎是金額僅次於諾貝爾的醫學獎，2000年由紐約州阿爾巴尼醫學中心設立，旨在"鼓勵和表彰對提高人類健康和促進開創性生物醫學"的研究。這3位科學家的研究都是利用人類基因，來調控幹細胞的分化。
Elaine Fuchs利用皮膚幹細胞，經細胞核轉移技術，植入未受孕已去核的卵中，複製健康的小鼠；James A. Thomson和Shinya Yamanaka都是透過基因調控，成功將成體幹細胞轉化成誘導性多功能幹細胞(iPSC)。
這些研究結果都是2007年的重大突破，幹細胞的研究日益越新，希望有越來越多重大貢獻的科學家，能紛紛受到表揚。
Three Stem Cell Researchers Given Medical Award
Posted on: Thursday, 17 March 2011, 05:45 CDT
The annual Albany Medical Center Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research award has been given to three stem cell researchers for their work in human stem cells.
The winners are Elaine Fuchs of Rockefeller University in New York City, James A. Thomson of the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health and Shinya Yamanaka of Kyoto University in Japan.
The researchers will share $500,000, which is the largest award in medicine and science in the U.S.
Morris “Marty” Silverman first established the prize in 2000.
James Barba, president and CEO of the medical center, said in a statement that their discoveries move medical researchers closer to new treatments for diseases like diabetes, Parkinson's, spinal cord injury and cancer.
"Diabetes, Parkinson's disease, cancer, spinal cord injury. The solutions to these debilitating diseases and many, many others that plague humans might very well be found through the science of stem cells," Barba said in a statement.
"Their discoveries have moved us closer to realizing the regenerative and potentially healing properties of stem cells. Their work has been widely publicized within the scientific stem cell community, and lies as a basis for new discoveries being made every day. We commend these three pioneers and honor them for their extraordinary contributions."
Yamanaka and Thomson are both credited with discovering how to genetically reprogram adult human cells back to an embryonic state.
This discovery was reported as a major scientific breakthrough in 2007.
Robert Golden, M.D., dean of the School of Medicine and Public Health at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said in a press release that "Dr. Thomson's work over the last decade has been integral to establishing human ES cells and human iPS cells as standard model systems for understanding the development and function of the human body both in terms of its composite systems and as an integrated whole."
According to a press release, Fuchs' research has been credited with developing reverse genetics techniques that have made stem cell and genetic research easier for all scientists.
http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/2013991/three_stem_cell_researchers_given_medical_award/
