ACADEMIA

Research!America will honor some of our nation's foremost medical and health research advocates at the 16th Annual Advocacy Awards tonight at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington, D.C. The awards dinner attracts nearly 500 leaders from government, industry, academia and health advocacy organizations to recognize top medical and health research advocates, who have made an impact in advancing the nation's commitment toward research.

This year's Advocacy Award Winners are: U.S. Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski (D-MD), Sanjay Gupta, MD, chief medical correspondent, CNN; Margaret Foti, PhD, MD (h.c.), CEO, American Association for Cancer Research; Scott Johnson, president and founder, Myelin Repair Foundation; Donald Lindberg, MD, director, National Library of Medicine; and the Food Allergy Initiative (FAI).

"This year's award recipients champion health and scientific research through their leadership in innovation, education and commitment to serving the public," said Mary Woolley, president and CEO of Research!America. "They have made a tremendous difference in building awareness of the health and economic benefits of medical research and influencing public policy."

U.S. Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski (D-MD) will receive the 2012 Edwin C. Whitehead Award for Medical Research Advocacy for her leadership and support for medical research, public health and prevention, regulatory science, and the physical sciences, as well as her support for research as a force for economic competitiveness.

Margaret Foti, PhD, MD (h.c.), CEO of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), will be honored with Research!America's 2012 Raymond and Beverly Sackler Award for Sustained National Leadership for shaping AACR's leadership role in science policy and for her effective advocacy for federal research funding during her notable tenure as the CEO of AACR.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, the Emmy-Award winning chief medical correspondent for CNN, will receive Research!America's 2012 Isadore Rosenfeld Award for Impact on Public Opinion for providing context and clarity in complex medical and health stories and for shining a light on the importance of medical and health research.

Entrepreneur, business strategist, and patient advocate Scott Johnson, president and founder of the Myelin Repair Foundation (MRF), will receive Research!America's 2012 Gordon and Llura Gund Leadership Award for creating a new research and development model at MRF to more rapidly deliver treatments to patients with chronic diseases, and for raising the visibility of research for neurological diseases.

Donald Lindberg, MD, director of the National Library of Medicine (NLM) and former director of the White House High Performance Computing and Communications (HPCC) Program, will receive Research!America's 2012 Geoffrey Beene Builders of Science Award for pioneering the application of computer technology to medicine and for his contributions to information and computer activities in medical diagnosis, artificial intelligence and educational programs. The Geoffrey Beene Builders of Science Award is part of a five-year commitment in recognizing those who have provided inspiration and determination in building an outstanding home for research.

The Food Allergy Initiative (FAI) will receive Research!America's 2012 Paul G. Rogers Distinguished Organization Advocacy Award for advancing food allergy research, increasing federal research funding and creating safer environments for people with food allergies.

Major sponsors of the 2012 Research!America Advocacy Awards Dinner include Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Johns Hopkins University and United Health Group.