Akira Endo, a Japanese scientist who discovered the first cholesterol-lowering statin drug, was one of five winners of the Lasker Medical Research Awards. Akira Endo (Biopharm Research Laboratories, Inc., Tokyo) won the clinical research award for the discovery of the statins, which are drugs with LDL-cholesterol-lowering properties that have revolutionized the prevention and treatment of coronary heart disease (CHD).

Endo’s most important work in the 1970’s was on fungal metabolites and their effects on cholesterol synthesis. Endo and colleagues grew more than 6000 fungi, harvested the broth in which each had grown, and tested whether the material could interfere with an early step of cholesterol synthesis in a test tube. The scientist purified a substance from the fungus Penicillium citrinum, called mevastatin or compactin, which became the first member of the statin class of drugs. Additional analysis led to the development of other statins and discovery into the metabolism of cholesterol. Statins represent a class of drugs used to lower cholesterol levels in people with cardiovascular disease or in those who are at risk of developing heart disease; they also raise levels of high-density lipoprotein, HDL or “good” cholesterol. Endo and colleagues found that the statins lowered the LDL, the so-called “bad” cholesterol level, in the blood by 17 percent. Merck manufactured lovastatin (Mevacor), the first statin to be licensed, in 1987.

Stanley Falkow, cancer research professor at the Stanford University School of Medicine, received the Lasker-Koshland Award for Special Achievement in Medical Science. “Dr. Stanley Falkow is one of the most remarkable and respected scientists of our time,” said Philip Pizzo, dean of the Stanford Medical School. “His elegant research contributions to the field of bacterial pathogenesis, which he fathered, have been enhanced by his incredible leadership as a teacher and mentor for a generation of physicians and scientists worldwide.” Dr. Stanley Falkow is sometimes referred to as the father of molecular microbial pathogenesis for his research into microbes. His research was conducted at the Walter Red Army Medical Center, Georgetown University, the University of Washington and then Stanford. His findings helped in the understanding of the molecular nature of antibiotic resistance and revolutionized the way scientists think about how microbes cause infections and disease.

Victor Ambros, 54, of the University of Massachusetts; David Baulcombe, 56, of the University of Cambridge in England, and Gary Ruvkun, 56, of Massachusetts General Hospital shared the Lasker prize for basic medical research for their pioneering look into the universe of molecules that can control the activity of genes. These scientists found that some of RNA molecules, which are called mocroRNAs can control the activity of many genes in animals and plants. The Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award honors scientists whose fundamental investigations have provided techniques, information, or concepts contributing to the elimination of major causes of disability and death, the foundation writes on its Web site.

The Lasker Awards have been presented since 1946 by the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation, which supports biomedical research toward overcoming diseases, enhancing human health and expanding life. The awards are sometimes referred to as “America’s Nobels.” Seventy-five Lasker laureates have received the Nobel Prize. The awards have been awarded annually since 1946 to living scientists, physicians, and public servants who have made major contributions to medical science.