Cold Spring Harbor, NY – $2.8 million was raised to strengthen and expand Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory’s (CSHL) research and education programs at the institution’s fourth annual Double Helix Medals dinner. Held on November 10 at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in New York City, the dinner honored four extraordinary people who have positively impacted human health by conducting ground-breaking research and raising awareness and funds for biomedical research.

“Driven by passion, intellect and vision, each of the 2009 Double Helix Medal recipients has boldly participated in the fight to find cures for the diseases that plague us,” said CSHL President Bruce Stillman.

Medals for Scientific Research were presented to Herbert W. Boyer, Ph.D. and Stanley N. Cohen, M.D. who co-discovered Recombinant DNA, thereby launching the biotechnology revolution and leading to new forms of human insulin for diabetes, growth hormones, cancer treatments and more. This seminal discovery was the basis for Dr. Boyer’s founding of Genentech in 1976.

Kathryn W. Davis, Ph.D., was honored for Humanitarianism.  A lifelong philanthropist and advocate for research, Dr. Davis and her family established CSHL’s Davis Chair in Human Genetics to focus on uncovering the roots of genetic disorders. She also founded the Kathryn W. Davis RNAi Research Center at the Laboratory to support the understanding of how this cellular machinery might be programmed to turn off genes that lead to cancer and other disorders.

In recognition of his unprecedented support of biomedical research, Maurice “Hank” Greenberg was presented with the medal for Corporate Philanthropy. Mr. Greenberg’s $100 million commitment to the Starr Cancer Consortium has strengthened cancer research and collaboration among five area institutions -- Weill-Cornell Medical College, Rockefeller University, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, the Broad Institute and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) is a private, not-for-profit research and education institution at the forefront of efforts in molecular biology and genetics to generate knowledge that will yield better diagnostics and treatments for cancer, neurological diseases and other major causes of human suffering.  For more information, visit www.cshl.edu.

Bruce Stillman, Ph.D, Bernadette Castro, Hank Greenberg		Bruce Stillman, Ph.D., Grace Boyer, Herbert Boyer, Ph.D.

Bruce Stillman, Ph.D., Drs. Marilyn and James Simons		Deborah Norville, Bruce Stillman, Ph.D., Nancy Marks, James Watson, Ph.D.

Lila Hope, Stanley Cohen, M.D., Joanne Cohen, Bruce Stillman, Ph.D		Lila Wang, Kathryn Davis, Ph.D., Richard Murray

Carol Greider, Ph.D., 2009 Nobelist, and Bruce Stillman, Ph.D.	Phil Donahue, Debrah Norville	Dr. Samuel L. Stanley, Jr., President Stony Brook University and Bruce Stillman, Ph.D.

Written by: Dagnia Zeidlickis, VP of Communications | pubaff@cshl.edu | 516-367-8455