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Human Behavior

So Far, Much Of Missouri Seems Untouched By Covid-19 So Rural Docs Want Aggressive Action Now – KCUR

In the past several weeks, as metro Kansas City began working to avoid being overwhelmed by Covid-19 like big cities elsewhere, rural places like Wright County in southern Missouri have been barely touched by the disease.

But Wright County family physician Dr. David Barbe, along with other health care providers who work in remote parts of the state, have been pleading with Gov. Mike Parson to force their patients and neighbors to shelter in place.

Im worried about them, Barbe says. There are individuals in my practice, and certainly in my community, that would be at great risk if they were to get Covid-19.

Last week, the Missouri State Medical Association sent Parson a letter requesting a statewide order to implement the same kind of stay-at-home requirements already in place in Kansas City or St. Louis.

Parson has so far refused to do so, repeatedly citing the importance of personal responsibility as he encourages individuals to take their own measures to prevent the virus from spreading.

Wright County currently has four Covid-19 patients, whose cases are believed to be related to travel or contact with other known cases, according to Barbe. Health officials say they have no evidence of community transmission in the county of close to 19,000 people.

Barbe says that some of his patients are already staying at home, but he acknowledges that for others in Wright County, Covid-19 still seems like a far-away threat.

Its mixed, Barbe says. I would say there is a lot of concern, but often people in rural areas think that, Thats going to me something that only involves urban areas. Thats not going to affect me.

However, new cases are being identified in new counties almost every day. Jeff Howell, general counsel and director of government relations for the Missouri State Medical Association, says Missouris patchwork approach to keeping people at home wont be effective when many residents routinely cross county lines for work, shopping or entertainment.

You dont want to have people who want to go to Applebees driving from Sikeston all the way to Poplar Bluff and possibly infecting a bunch of people, Howell says.

And residents of Wright County and similar rural counties could be especially vulnerable to a Covid-19 outbreak. More than a quarter of Wright County residents are over 60 years old; about a quarter are in poor or fair health; and the county has one of the states highest rates of premature death.

However, Wright County doesnt have a hospital. Like dozens of counties in the state, it doesnt have a single intensive care unit bed.

The shelter-in-place orders can be especially important in areas like Wright County, according to Claire Standley, an infectious disease researcher at Georgetown University.

We know that the elderly and (people) with underlying health conditions are particularly vulnerable to Covid-19, and particularly to severe infection, hospitalization and even critical conditions or death, and so in that case, we really do want to be protecting those vulnerable portions of our population, Standley says.

And I think part of the shelter-in-place scenario is not just to stop transmission, but also to really reinforce protection for those groups.

While shelter-in-place orders have most often been implemented in the U.S. in areas that have identified community spread, Standley says they may be most effective before that takes place.

China actually implemented quite severe lockdowns and movement restrictions with only 30 deaths, Standley says. Of course, weve far exceeded that in many parts of the U.S., and so I think were seeing there can be really big benefits to trying to be proactive.

Standley says that if rural communities dont yet have community spreading, it still may be possible for them to achieve the goal that most cities have abandoned weeks ago: to contain the spread of the disease, rather than just mitigate its effects.

Of course, stay-at-home orders are only effective if residents choose to follow them, and given the skepticism that many rural residents have about the threat of Covid-19, Barbe acknowledges that many of his neighbors might chose to disregard an order.

However, based on his conversations with patients, he thinks a statewide order would send a powerful message. And he doesnt think such orders would face any more resistance in Wright County than they have in other parts of the state.

Thats human nature and human behavior Barbe says. I think theres relatively little difference between Wright County and Springfield or even Kansas City. There will be some people that will pay attention and do the right thing and there will be others that will think that theyre bullet proof or invincible, and they are going to go out no matter what.

Alex Smith is a health care reporter for KCUR. You can reached him at alexs@kcur.org.

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So Far, Much Of Missouri Seems Untouched By Covid-19 So Rural Docs Want Aggressive Action Now - KCUR

Human Behavior

How investors can stay rational in irrational times – The Globe and Mail

It was 2008 and James, a newly minted Ivy League MBA had recently joined David Lewiss team, at a global bank on Wall Street. The markets had been sliding since late 2007 and the Bear market was gaining momentum - downwards. It was being called the global financial crisis.

James lamented, I finally made it to Wall Street and the whole industry is melting down. I picked a terrible time to be a banker. David said, James, you picked the best time because the markets will recover and inevitably go through another bear market some time in the future. You can then remind people about what happened in the global financial crisis and hopefully help them make better decisions the next time.

We can remember people predicting that the markets would keep dropping until they hit zero. It was a scary time and some people were panicking and liquidating everything. Those who sold everything lost the most. Of course, the markets did recover and starting in February 2009, became the longest bull market in history, lasting up to March 2020.

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The world is grappling now with the economic fallout of a global pandemic. Those on Wall Street might be feeling much as James did in 2008. If well-trained professionals are displaying irrationality in the face of volatility, imagine the mindset of the average investor. In order to help investors, advisors must overcome any temptation to show fear, panic, or the pessimism that James showed. Despite our best efforts to be rational decision-makers, we often are predictably irrational. In the 1950s, Herbert Simon described people as boundedly rational - we try to be rational but only have so much mental energy and time, so we often fail. Kahneman and Tverskys work in the 1970s showed that our reliance on heuristics in the face of these time and energy constraints, can lead to predictable biases.

How can we preserve rationality in our ranks, and just as critically, amongst investors, in these trying times? Understanding the common errors made both by institutional and individual investors when volatility reigns can come through understanding the science of human behavior.

A number of cognitive biases contribute to our collective inability to let history guide us. Looking back to the stock market crash of 1928, or the financial crisis of 2008, we know that things bounce back. Confirmation bias compels us to find information that supports our view that things are crumbling -- remember, there were people in 2008 predicting that the Dow, Nasdaq and S&P 500 would go to zero. Representativeness bias leads to short-sighted decisions, sensitivity to momentary information, and a belief that current emotions, such as fear, will persist well into the future. People believe that what is currently happening is permanent and will continue even though we know markets eventually start rising again.

Relatedly, we see the bias of loss aversion taking root. People feel the pain of losses more acutely than pleasure from an equivalent gain, leading them to myopic viewpoints and frequent checking of accounts. But, loss aversion is not the end of our irrationality. As investors check their accounts, they are also plagued by the illusion of control bias, where we think we have agency and control in situations when in fact we do not. Further augmented by the overconfidence bias, many people try to make moves when they should really stand pat. These biases end up leading us to sell our portfolios in the face of downturns, to feel like we are taking action against volatility.

Behavioral economics not only pinpoints these biases, but it also provides directions for how to overcome them.

One solution is to get investors to listen to advice from experts. In a recent study by BEworks, we found that fewer people have an advisor and follow all of the advice (13%) than those who had no advisor or have an advisor and ignore their advice (21%). In the middle, the remainder have a financial advisor but only follow some of the advice.

To counter loss aversion, we can encourage investors to use mental accounting (Thaler, 1990). If people separate their money into a portion they need for short term emergencies and the rest of their money as being long term, and leave that long term money in the market knowing that it will eventually recover and earn back any losses, they can be less tempted to dump everything at an inopportune time. Another technique is long-term gain framing. Look at the markets over a 10 year period and the large drops we see daily look like small blips. One good piece of advice is to actively limit how frequently you look at your account.

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To fight representativeness bias we can use explicit emotion priming (Blanchette 2007) where we acknowledge negative emotions and confront them. When emotions such as fear and anxiety are confronted and recognized as natural responses to stressful times, they lose their ability to hijack our thinking. Another technique is to envision your future self (Hirschfeld 2011) following your dream in the future. People who took a long term view in 2008 and stayed in the market are much better off than those who panicked and stuffed their money in their mattress. Thinking of the long term can remove the temptation to react to short-term information.

Countering the illusion of control can be done by explicitly recognizing and framing the losses of forgone gains when the market eventually turns, and we know people are averse to losses. If they move at the bottom, they will lose out on the eventual rise. Another way of countering the illusion of control is by priming self consistency. Remind people that they thought carefully when constructing their portfolio, and the portfolio may have done very well for years, and this leads them to pause before unwinding it all. We like to be self consistent so when we think of all of the careful thought that went into the portfolio, we are less likely to question our previous judgement and more likely to question our current panic.

One method to combat the overconfidence that many investors will exhibit, thinking they can make the right move when there is no right move, is with information accessibility. Ask investors to name top athletes, and they can surely easily come up with ten. Next, ask them to name people who consistently and successfully time the market by selling just before the crash and buying back in right at the bottom. They will have trouble naming any and in the long run, there are none.

In popular culture, Michael Burry, the lead character in the film The Big Short is seen as correctly timing and profiting from the subprime mortgage crisis but the film leaves out the fact that Burry liquidated his positions in 2008 and missed the gains that would have come if he had waited for the 2008 and 2009 government bailouts.

David Lewis, PhD, CFA, MBA, is the Chief Client Officer at BEworks. David has held numerous senior positions including Head of Technology, Head of Marketing, President, CEO, and Chairman of the Board, at global financial institutions including Barclays Wealth USA, UBS Bank USA, UBS Financial Services Americas, ING DIRECT USA, and Bank of Nova Scotia.

Kelly Peters, MBA, is the chief executive officer and cofounder of BEworks. She pioneered the BEworks Method, which is being applied at Global 1000 firms and in policy groups around the world. She held senior positions in strategy and innovation at Royal Bank of Canada, and Bank of Montreal, and several startups. Find her on Twitter and LinkedIn.

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Dan Ariely, PhD, is the co-founder of BEworks; Professor of Psychology & Behavioral Economics, Duke University; and is recognized as a Top 50 Most Influential Thinkers (Bloomberg). Dan is also a three-time New York Times Best-selling Author, including Predictably Irrational.

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How investors can stay rational in irrational times - The Globe and Mail

Human Behavior

Data mapping is a necessary tool against COVID-19. But mass surveillance doesn’t have to be. – Armenian Weekly

This week, the Armenian government passed its most controversial measure yet in its struggle to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. On Monday, a motion that would allow authorities to access personal phone data passed a first reading in the National Assembly despite strong objections from opposition parties and concerns from privacy watchdogs. The bill was initially defeated in a second reading on Tuesday morning before being pushed through in a late night session.

Justice Minister Rustam Badasyan, who presented the bill, argued that it would simplify efforts to slow the spread of the virus by better identifying the infection rate. These measures will purportedly be limited to data collected from those already infected and only within the duration of the State of Emergency situation which is scheduled to expire on April 16. The government claims to be amending the text with explicit assurances that the actual content of phone conversations remain protected and all private data be immediately deleted once the pandemic is contained.

Still, the move coincides with a worrying trend where liberal democracies across the worldperhaps naively encouraged by the apparent success of Communist Chinas authoritarian containment model, irresponsibly endorsed by the WHOare considering unheard-of draconian measures to fight the contagion. In France, drones patrol the streets to enforce curfews. Canadas Liberal minority government has leveraged the situation in an attempted power grab, while Hungary has done away with the trappings of democracy altogether. Citizens across Europe and North America are being bluntly told to get used to a new reality where mass surveillance is the norm. No matter the approach, individual liberty is always the first victim.

Predictably, Armenias parliamentary opposition parties arent having any of it. Edmon Marukyan, who leads the liberal-leaning Bright Armenia Party (BAP) strongly condemned the measure, declaring, We are against ceding our liberties. With a flair for the dramatic, he later illustrated his point with a tweet of himself perusing through George Orwells dystopian novel 1984. Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP)s Naira Zohrabyan also dismissed the measure as meaningless. Questions arose from within the government itself about the effectiveness of monitoring phone data in cases where infections spread through social settings like supermarket visits or in public. (Preliminary data from Armenia suggests that outside of the initial outbreaks, the virus has primarily spread through community transmission. No cases have been reported in supermarkets at the time of this writing.)

Assuming that these objections are genuine expressions of concernrather than political posturingthey reveal a troubling political reality, but also a general misunderstanding of how pandemic containment strategies work.

Until humanity develops some form of resistance to the novel coronaviruseither through herd immunity or vaccination (both scenarios likely months away)the most effective containment strategy involves a combination of early detection and contact tracing. The first requires widespread accurate testing, while the second calls for massive amounts of real-time data.

Once testing equipment becomes sufficiently available, healthcare workers could identify carriers more quickly and isolate them before they have a chance to transmit the infection. The next step is to identify and isolate anyone which was in contact with a carrier during the incubation period, in doing so flattening the curve enough to relieve overburdened health services. But people may lie or honestly not recall who theyd been in contact with days before. This is where data collection plays an important role. In the words of data scientist Seth Davidowitz, Big data serves as a digital truth serum. Tracing phone records would help healthcare workers map potential contagions and quickly contain them.

Yet mobile phone tracking also beholds a proactive function for public health authorities: projection modeling. As Dr. Anthony Fauci, a leading member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, told CNN on Sunday, When someone creates a model, they put in various assumptions. The model is only as good and as accurate as your assumptions. Human behavior constitutes the most important variable in replacing assumptions with accurate projections. At this point, smartphone monitoring remains the most widespread and proven method of collecting enough sample data to predict human behavior and by extension, infection rates during a pandemic.

Mobile data tracking plays a key role in Communist Chinas brutally effective virus containment strategy. State-owned telecoms share color-coded user data with authorities to ensure that suspected carriers cant escape checkpoints. Search histories and app records are crawled through to extrapolate potential infection symptoms. Other countries too are employing variations of mobile tracking to coordinate containment efforts, but not all rely on storing personally identifiable data.

In Singapore, the governments open-source TraceTogether app relies on records of bluetooth interactions between smartphones to warn citizens who come in contact with known carriers of the disease. The Singapore Health Ministry claims that the app doesnt record location data or access contact lists, but they do have the ability to decrypt user information if necessary. Human Rights Watch is pushing for alternative voluntary methods of data sharing, like the Private Kit: Safe Paths app, which stores encrypted and anonymous GPS data locally on a users phone. Ultimately, a combination of anonymous big data collection and edge computing could provide a large enough population sample for the predictive algorithms while divulging nothing about individual citizens.

Of course, legitimate public health purposes dont negate privacy concerns. Emergencies have always been the pretext on which the safeguards of individual liberty have eroded, once said economist and Nobel laureate Friedrich Hayek. And history has proven him right time and time again. The hopelessly bloated nanny-states which characterize western liberal-democracy in the 21st century trace their origins to the endlessly-extended emergency war-economies of the past. To quote another Nobel Prize-winning economic theorist, this time Milton Friedman: Nothing is so permanent as a temporary government program.

The concern is no less relevant to Armenia, where young democratic institutions remain vulnerable to populist or authoritarian whims. At the moment, thankfully, there is no indication that the authorities plan on extending emergency powers beyond the scope of the crisis. The fact that this administration has shown itself to be attentive to the privacy concerns sparked by the measure and included checks and balances into a much more watered-down third reading of the bill is encouraging. The government has already relaxed the media restrictions attached to the emergency situations legislation following outcry from civil rights groups and has treaded carefully in suspending habeas corpus.

So far, Armenias authorities have received (well-deserved) praise for their measured, yet decisive handling of the pandemic. The government has shown its ability to react quickly and responsively to a rapidly developing global crisis despite inexperience and limited resources. In stark contrast to neighboring ex-soviet dictatorships, the transparent nature of information distributionbest exemplified by daily live updates from both the Minister of Health Arsen Torosyan and Prime Minister Pashinyanhas helped cultivate an unprecedented sense of public trust and social solidarity, with potentially life-saving results.

Ignoring, for the moment, that Armenian citizens have likely been victims of illegal state wiretapping for decades, Armenia shouldnt be faulted for choosing already-proven solutions at its disposal rather than theoretical concepts, given the urgency. What matters now is that authorities seriously consider non-invasive alternatives for next time.

That said, members of democratic societies still bear responsibility for keeping elected officials accountable to the constitutional limits of their authority. Yet fulfilling that obligation requires remaining alive for the duration of the pandemic. Thus, ironically, the first step in ensuring the survival of Armenian democracy is to comply with executive orders: stay home and practice regular hygiene. The second is to lobby authorities to adopt innovative data collection methods which boost social equality and public health without compromising individual rights.

Ultimately, the real danger isnt the emergency situation itself, but when citizens come to accept mass surveillance as a new normal. Wilsons final thoughts on the last page of Orwells 1984 should resonate with Marukyan: But it was all right, everything was all right, the struggle was finished. He had won the victory over himself. He loved Big Brother.

Raffi Elliott is a Canadian-Armenian political risk analyst and journalist based in Yerevan, Armenia. As correspondent and columnist for the Armenian Weekly, he covers socioeconomic, political, business and diplomatic issues in Armenia, with occasional thoughts on culture and urbanism.

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Data mapping is a necessary tool against COVID-19. But mass surveillance doesn't have to be. - Armenian Weekly

Cell Biology

Overcome reproducibility challenges with live-cell assays using the power of whole-well imaging on SelectScience – SelectScience

In order to understand and interpret the intricate and dynamic processes governing cell biology and related diseases, in vitro cell-based assays are the starting point for most researchers. Many scientists opt now for adding imaging to their live-cell assay analysis in order to provide important context to results, ultimately allowing a higher level of interpretation of potential drug candidates.

However working with live cells is cumbersome and burdened with challenges, with reproducibility being a major concern. In this webinar, learn about a new plate reader with live-cell imaging and real-time cytometry that can help you can overcome factors, such as insufficient replication of experiments, poor user judgement leading to poor statistical power, and variability in reagents or techniques, that can otherwise have a critical impact on experimental outcome, as well as financial and time expense.

Plus, hear from Dr. Stefan Hasender, Senior Scientist R & D, SIRION Biotech, as he explains how the multi-parameter automated analysis capabilities of the Tecan Spark Cyto microplate reader have assisted the transduction and production of viral vector technologies through the analysis of cell confluence and counting, cell toxicity and transduction efficiency testing.

Learn how you can

Who should attend?

Students, postdocs, lab heads, group leaders, academia, CRO, biotech and biopharma, small and large pharma

Attendance certificate

All webinar participants can download a certificate of attendance, and a learning outcomes summary document for continuing education purposes.

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Overcome reproducibility challenges with live-cell assays using the power of whole-well imaging on SelectScience - SelectScience

Cell Biology

Textbooks Still Misrepresent the Origin of Life – Discovery Institute

Editors note: The profoundest mystery and thus the deepest inspiration is life itself. Discovery Institute Press has just published a greatly expanded edition of the 1984 classic of intelligent design science literature,The Mystery of Lifes Origin. Below is an excerpt adapted from a brand new chapter. Dr. Wells, the author of the chapter, is a Senior Fellow with the Center for Science & Culture. He holds PhDs in Molecular and Cell Biology (U.C. Berkeley) and Religious Studies (Yale University).

The Miller-Urey experiment may well be called the poster child for origin-of-life research. Most modern biology students have seen some version of the drawing below, which represents an experimental apparatus used in 1952 by University of Chicago graduate student Stanley L. Miller. Because Miller performed his experiment under the supervision of Nobel laureate Harold C. Urey, and the results were published in 1953, it became known as the 1953 Miller-Urey experiment.

In 2000, I published a book titled Icons of Evolution: Why Much of What we Teach About Evolution is Wrong. I described and analyzed ten images (icons of evolution) commonly used in biology textbooks to teach high school and college students about evolutionary theory. I showed that all ten icons misrepresent the evidence and that some scientists had known this for decades.

After 2000, some textbooks were corrected, but in many cases the corrections were minor and the books continued to perpetuate the misrepresentations. This prompted me to publish another book in 2017, titled Zombie Science, which included six more icons of evolution that I didnt have room to include in my 2000 book. All sixteen icons misrepresented the evidence, but many were still being used in 2017. I called this zombie science, because although the icons were empirically dead they continued to stalk our classrooms and research institutions.

I argued that this was not due simply to laziness or a reluctance to give up an attractive theory. It revealed something much deeper: a dogmatic commitment to materialistic philosophy. Biology courses were being misused to indoctrinate students in materialism, the view that only material objects and the forces among them are real. In this view free will, spirit, intelligent design, and God are mere illusions.

One of the icons of evolution was the Miller-Urey experiment.

Read the rest inThe Mystery of Lifes Origin: The Continuing Controversy, from Discovery Institute Press.

Photo credit: In the Miller-Urey apparatus, a spark from two electrodes simulated lightning, shown above, by Griffinstorm / CC BY-SA.

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Textbooks Still Misrepresent the Origin of Life - Discovery Institute

Cell Biology

Mina Bissell Awarded International Prize for Her Contributions to Cancer Research – Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Mina J. Bissell. (Credit: Marilyn Sargent/Berkeley Lab)

Mina Bissell, distinguished senior scientist at the Department of Energys Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), is one of five recipients of the 2020 Canada Gairdner International Award an annual honor given to scientists who have contributed to transformative human health research.

Bissell was recognized for helping to shift the paradigm in the understanding of cancer by showing that both malignant and normal cells are engaged in a continuous, two-way interaction with their microenvironment within the body. Her pioneering work on this phenomenon, called dynamic reciprocity, revealed that tumor cells grown in culture or otherwise isolated in a lab do not behave the same way they would in a patient.

First proposed almost 40 years ago, Bissells model has since been thoroughly established in cell and cancer biology. According to the Gairdner Foundation, the implications of dynamic reciprocity have permeated every area of cell and cancer biology. Her findings have had profound implications for cancer therapy by demonstrating that tumor cells can be influenced by their environment and are not just the product of their genetic mutations. For example, cells from the mammary glands grown in 2D tissue cultures rapidly lose their identity, but once placed in proper 3D microenvironments, they regain mammary form and function. This work presages the current excitement about generation of 3D tissue organoids and demonstrates Dr. Bissells creative and innovative approach to science.

The Gairdner Foundation was established by businessman and philanthropist James A. Gairdner in 1957, with the goal of recognizing and supporting scientists whose seminal discoveries and major scientific contributions constitute an original and significant achievement in biomedical science. Since then, 387 scientists from 35 countries have received the award. Of these, 92 have gone on to win Nobel Prizes. Past Gairdner International Award recipients include Jennifer Doudna (of UC Berkeley) and Emmanuelle Charpentier, whose collaboration led to the discovery of the CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing system; James Watson, the co-discoverer of the structure of DNA; Elizabeth Blackburn, who described the function of telomeres and co-discovered telomerase; Anthony Fauci, the current head of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; and Stanley Prusiner, a neurologist who discovered the cause of prion diseases.

In addition to the recent recognition, Bissell has also received theAmerican Philosophical Societys Jonathan E. Rhoads Gold Medal for Distinguished Service to Medicine, the 2019 Weizmann Women & Science Award, the American Cancer Societys Medal of Honor, the U.S. Department of Defenses First Innovator Award in Breast Cancer, the American Society of Cell Biologys Wilson Medal, and was the inaugural recipient of the Berkeley Lab Lifetime Achievement Prize, among many others. She has been elected to the American Philosophical Society, National Academy of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences, American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Bissell received a Ph.D. in bacterial genetics from Harvard University in 1969, after which she received fellowships to conduct postdoctoral work at the Department of Virology and Molecular Biology at UC Berkeley. In 1972, she was recruited as a staff biochemist at Berkeley Lab and given the opportunity to lead her own team focused on cancer biology. During her time at Berkeley Lab, she served as the founding Director of the Cell and Molecular Biology Division and the Associate Laboratory Director of Life Sciences (which then included the Human Genome Program). When she stepped down from this role in 2001, she was given the rank of distinguished senior scientist, the highest academic rank at the Lab. Bissell also currently serves as faculty at four graduate groups at UC Berkeley.

# # #

Founded in 1931 on the belief that the biggest scientific challenges are best addressed by teams,Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratoryand its scientists have been recognized with 13 Nobel Prizes. Today, Berkeley Lab researchers develop sustainable energy and environmental solutions, create useful new materials, advance the frontiers of computing, and probe the mysteries of life, matter, and the universe. Scientists from around the world rely on the Labs facilities for their own discovery science. Berkeley Lab is a multiprogram national laboratory, managed by the University of California for the U.S. Department of Energys Office of Science.

DOEs Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visitenergy.gov/science.

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Mina Bissell Awarded International Prize for Her Contributions to Cancer Research - Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Cell Biology

Here are the departments accepting S/NC in spring 2020 – The Stanford Daily

On Thursday, the Faculty Senate voted 36-15 to mandate that all spring quarter courses be graded on a satisfactory/no-credit (S/NC) basis. Courses in the Stanford Graduate School of Business, Stanford Law School and Stanford School of Medicines M.D. program were exempt from this decision, but those schools may opt in.

The Senate also approved a measure that strongly urges departments and programs to exclude units of credit earned for a CR or S grade during spring quarter 2019-20 from program unit maximums and/or alter program requirements as appropriate.

The Daily has reached out to all of Stanfords departments, schools and programs that offer undergraduate and/or graduate degrees to compile a list of those accepting courses taken on a S/NC basis this spring for degree requirements. Ways of Thinking/Ways of Doing, Thinking Matters and Program in Writing and Rhetoric courses taken S/NC in the spring will also count toward undergraduate graduation requirements.

No departments, schools or programs have yet said that they will not be accepting courses taken S/NC this spring. The following list will be updated as The Daily receives additional responses.

Graduate School of EducationEducation (Minor)

School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences (All degrees)

School of EngineeringAeronautics and Astronautics (Major, Minor)Architectural Design (Major)Atmosphere and Energy (Major)Bioengineering (All degrees)Biomechanical Engineering (Major)Biomedical Computation (Major)Chemical Engineering (Major, Minor)Civil Engineering (Major, Minor)Computer Science (Major, Minor, M.S.)Electrical Engineering (Major, Minor)Engineering Physics (Major)Environmental Systems Engineering (Major, Minor)Management Science and Engineering (Major, Minor)Materials Science and Engineering (Major, Minor)Mechanical Engineering (All degrees)Product Design (Major)

School of Humanities & SciencesAmerican Studies (Major, Minor)Applied Physics (All degrees)Archaeology (Major, Minor)Biology (Major, Minor)Center for Comparative Studies in Race & Ethnicity (Major, Minor)Chemistry (Major, Minor)Classics (Major, Minor)Communication (All degrees)Creative Writing (Minor)Data Science (Minor)Division of Literatures, Cultures, and Languages (All degrees)Economics (Major, Minor)English (Major, Minor)Human Biology (Major, Minor)Human Rights (Minor)International Relations (Major, Minor)Linguistics (Major, Minor)Mathematical and Computational Science (Major, Minor)Mathematics (Major, Minor)Music (Major, Minor)Philosophy (Major, Minor)Physics (Major, Minor)Political Science (Major, Minor)Psychology (Major, Minor)Public Policy (Major, Minor)Religious Studies (Major, Minor)Sociology (Major, Minor)Statistics (Minor)Symbolic Systems (Major, Minor)Urban Studies (Major, Minor)

School of MedicineBiochemistry (All degrees)Bioengineering (All degrees)Biomedical Informatics (All degrees)Biophysics (All degrees)Cancer Biology (All degrees)Chemical and Systems Biology (All degrees)Epidemiology & Clinical Research (M.S., Ph.D.)Genetics (All degrees)Health Policy (M.S., Ph.D.)Immunology (All degrees)Microbiology and Immunology (All degrees)Neurosciences (All degrees)Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine (All degrees)

Contact Camryn Pak at cpak23 at stanford.edu.

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Here are the departments accepting S/NC in spring 2020 - The Stanford Daily

Cell Biology

What is chloroquine and could it cure the new coronavirus? – ABS-CBN News

Could a pair of decades-old, relatively inexpensive drugs be the solution to the novel coronavirus pandemic?

Around the world, countries are expanding access to hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) and chloroquine (CQ), related compounds that are synthetic forms of quinine, which comes from cinchona trees and has been used for centuries to treat malaria.

HQ which is the less toxic of the two, is also used as an anti-inflammatory to treat conditions like rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, purposes it is primarily known for outside the tropics.

The medicines have shown early promise against the COVID-19 illness in early studies in France and China, which led US President Donald Trump this week to call them a "gift from God" -- even as experts urge caution until bigger trials validate their effectiveness.

Here is what you need to know.

- Why they might work -

China used CQ on a trial of 134 patients in February, finding it was effective in reducing the severity of the illness, according to officials.

But these results haven't yet been published. Chinese respiratory expert Zhong Nanshan, who leads a government task force in response to the epidemic, said in a press conference last week that the data would be widely shared soon.

In France, a team led by Didier Raoult of the IHU-Mediterranee Infection, Marseille reported last week they had carried out a study on 36 COVID-19 patients, finding that HCQ drastically reduced the viral load in a group which received the drug.

The effects were especially pronounced when it was used with azithromycin, a common antibiotic used to sweep out secondary bacterial infections.

What's more, HCQ and CQ drugs have been proven to act against the SARS-CoV-2 virus in lab settings, and a paper published by a Chinese team last week in Cell Discovery offered a potential mode of action.

Karine Le Roch, a professor of cell biology at the University of California, Riverside, explained that both HCQ and CQ are weak bases that elevate the pH of parts of human cells called organelles -- which are analogous to organs in animals -- and which are normally acidic.

This in turn interferes with the virus' ability to enter the cells -- and also seems to block them from replicating once they are already inside.

But, she added: "While it worked in vitro, I am still waiting to see published results of large blind clinical trials demonstrating the efficacy of HCQ in vivo," she told AFP.

- The case for caution -

Promise doesn't mean proof, and the small studies carried out so far amount to "anecdotal" evidence, according to Anthony Fauci, head of infectious diseases at the US National Institutes of Health.

What's more, a small Chinese study on 30 patients that was also published this month found HCQ was no better than standard care -- meaning treating the symptoms via bed rest, fluids and so on -- adding a note of caution to the discourse.

The only way to know for sure is to carry out randomized clinical trials, scientists say. Such experiments are considered the gold standard in the field but last months or years and involve thousands of patients, often from around the world.

Patients are assigned at random to either receive the drug under investigation or a placebo, and the studies are "blinded" meaning the participants and their doctors are unaware which group they are in, to further reduce bias.

Overhyping medicine can have several unintended effects, warn experts.

"One of the unintended consequences are drug shortages of chloroquine, for people that need to manage their rheumatoid arthritis, for example," Peter Pitts, a former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration told AFP.

A few countries are taking a cautious approach. Spain, for example, announced Monday said that "until further notice" these arthritis and lupus patients would be given priority access to the drug.

French Health Minister Olivier Veran meanwhile said the compounds can be used only to treat the most severe cases of COVID-19.

Another problem is that people may try to self-medicate. A US man from Arizona died this week after ingesting a form of chloroquine intended to fight aquatic parasites.

- Side effects -

Several countries have now embarked on clinical trials, including the United States, where one began in New York this week.

Italy is carrying out a trial on 2,000 people, while scientists are also awaiting the results from bigger trials in China.

But while the drugs are being rolled out for compassionate use, it is critical to bear in mind safety precautions.

About one percent of people are at high risk of blackouts, seizure or even sudden death from cardiac arrest because of heart rhythm issues they may themselves be unaware of, Michael Ackerman, a genetic cardiologist at Mayo Clinic told AFP.

Medical teams must therefore perform electrocardiograms to inform their risk analysis before using these medicines, he said.

"All focus is placed on the hope for therapeutic efficacy of these medications, without any reasonable amount of respect, not fear, but respect for what the potential side effects of these very powerful medications are," said Ackerman.

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What is chloroquine and could it cure the new coronavirus? - ABS-CBN News

Cell Biology

Columbia Starts Screening COVID-19 Survivors for Antibodies That May Save Others – Columbia University Irving Medical Center

Columbia University Irving Medical Center has started screening COVID-19 survivors for antibodies that could be used to treat others.

On March 30, CUIMCs pathology laboratory screened New York states first potential donorDiana Berrent, a resident from Long Island who recently recovered from COVID-19. The lab will determine if the patient has enough antibodiesproteins made by the immune system that can neutralize virusesto serve as a treatment or vaccine against COVID-19.

Antibody-rich plasma from convalescent patients has been used for decades to treat diseases like influenza and even Ebola, says Eldad Hod, MD, associate professor of pathology &cell biology at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeonsand lead investigator of the research.

The U.S. FDA on Thursday gave permission for physicians to use antibody-rich plasma to treat coronavirus patients.

In an unparalleled effort to speed the development of treatments for COVID-19, the state has approved our plan to screen potential donors for antibodies, says Kevin Roth, MD, PhD, chair of pathology &cell biology at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and pathologist-in-chief at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center. "Thanks to the generosity of this patient, who just recently recovered from COVID-19, we will be among the first to embark on this important mission.

Recovered patients who are interested canvolunteer at CUIMC's Clinical Trials website. People who qualify will need to come to NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center to have their nose swabbed (to confirm they are no longer infectious) and their blood drawn. Blood samples will then be analyzed immediately to look for the presence of antibodies to the virus that causes COVID-19.

Volunteers with sufficient levels of antibodies will be referred to theNew York Blood Center, which will perform another blood draw and separate blood cells from plasma (the liquid component of blood that contains antibodies).

A single COVID-19 survivor may be able to provide enough plasma to treat two or three other patients.

We are hearing from many recovered patients who want to give something back to the community and the doctors who cared for them, adds Hod. The sooner we obtain antibody-rich plasmathe faster we can start using the plasma to treat other people with COVID-19.

Anecdotal reports from China where the same approach was used suggest antibody-rich plasma reduces the amount of virus, though it may not reverse course of the disease in very ill patients.

I feel incredibly lucky to have survived COVID-19, but others may not be so lucky, saysBerrent. I strongly encourage people who have already had COVID-19 to consider being screened; its one of the most important ways to help other patients right now.

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Columbia Starts Screening COVID-19 Survivors for Antibodies That May Save Others - Columbia University Irving Medical Center

Cell Biology

2020 Canada Gairdner Awards Recognize World-renowned Scientists for Transformative Contributions to Research That Impact Human Health – Benzinga

TORONTO, March 31, 2020 /CNW/ - The Gairdner Foundation is pleased to announce the 2020 Canada Gairdner Award laureates, recognizing some of the world's most significant biomedical research and discoveries. During these challenging times, we believe it is important to celebrate scientists and innovators from around the world and commend them for their tireless efforts to conduct research that impacts human health.

2020 Canada Gairdner International AwardThe five 2020 Canada Gairdner International Award laureates are recognized for seminal discoveries or contributions to biomedical science:

Dr. Masatoshi TakeichiSenior Visiting Scientist, RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research, Kobe, Japan; Professor Emeritus, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan

Dr. Rolf KemlerEmeritus Member and Director, Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics, Freiburg, Germany

Awarded "For their discovery, characterization and biology of cadherins and associated proteins in animal cell adhesion and signalling."

Dr. Takeichi

The Work: The animal body is made up of numerous cells. Dr. Takeichi was investigatinghow animal cells stick together to form tissues and organs, and identified a key protein which he named 'cadherin'.Cadherin is present on the surface of a cell and binds to the same cadherin protein on the surface of another cell through like-like interaction, thereby binding the cells together. Without cadherin, cell to cell adhesion becomes weakened and leads to the disorganization of tissues. Dr. Takeichi found that there are multiple kinds of cadherin within the body, each of which are made by different cell types, such as epithelial and neuronal cells. Cells with the same cadherins tend to cluster together, explaining the mechanism of how different cells are sorted out and organized to form functional organs.

Further studies by Dr. Takeichi's group showed that cadherin function is supported by a number of cytoplasmic proteins, includingcatenins, and their cooperation is essential for shaping of tissues. His studies also revealed that the cadherin-dependent adhesion mechanism is involved in synaptic connections between neurons, which are important for brain wiring.

Dr. Kemler

The Work: Dr. Kemler, using an immunological approach, developed antibodies directed against surface antigens of early mouse embryos. These antibodies were shown to prevent compaction of the mouse embryo and interfered with subsequent development. Both Dr. Kemler and Dr. Takeichi went on to clone and sequence the gene encoding E-cadherin and demonstrate that it was governing homophilic cell adhesion.

Dr. Kemler also discovered the other proteins that interact with the cadherins, especially the catenins, to generate the machinery involved in animal cell-to-cell adhesion. This provided the first evidence of their importance in normal development and diseases such as cancer. It has been discovered that cadherins and catenins are correlated to the formation and growth of some cancers and how tumors continue to grow. Beta catenin is linked to cell adhesion through interaction with cadherins but is also a key component of the Wnt signalling pathway that is involved in normal development and cancer. There are approximately 100 types of cadherins, known as the cadherin superfamily.

Dr. Takeichi

The Impact: The discovery of cadherins, which are found in all multicellular animalspecies, has allowed us to interpret how multicellular systems are generated and regulated. Loss of cadherin function has been implicated as the cause of certain cancers, as well as in invasiveness of many cancers. Mutations in special types of cadherin result in neurological disorders, such as epilepsy and hearing loss. The knowledge of cadherin function is expected to contribute to the development of effective treatments against such diseases.

Dr. Kemler

The Impact: Human tumors are often of epithelial origin. Given the role of E-cadherin for the integrity of an epithelial cell layer, the protein can be considered as a suppressor of tumor growth. The research on the cadherin superfamily has had great impact on fields as diverse as developmental biology, cell biology, oncology, immunology and neuroscience. Mutations in cadherins/catenins are frequently found in tumors. Various screens are being used to identify small molecules that might restore cell adhesion as a potential cancer therapy.

Dr. Roel NusseProfessor & Chair, Department of Developmental Biology; Member, Institute for StemCell Biology andRegenerativeMedicine, Stanford University, School of Medicine.Virginia and Daniel K. Ludwig Professor of Cancer Research. Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Awarded"For pioneering work on the Wnt signaling pathway and its importance in development, cancer and stem cells"

The Work: Dr. Nusse's research has elucidated the mechanism and role of Wnt signaling, one of the most important signaling systems in development. There is now abundant evidence that Wnt signaling is active in cancer and in control of proliferation versus differentiation of adult stem cells, making the Wnt pathway one of the paradigms for the fundamental connections between normal development and cancer.

Among Dr. Nusse's contributions is the original discovery of the first Wnt gene (together with Harold Varmus) as an oncogene in mouse breast cancer. Afterwards Dr. Nusse identified the Drosophila Wnt homolog as a key developmental gene, Wingless. This led to the general realization of the remarkable links between normal development and cancer, now one of the main themes in cancer research. Using Drosophila genetics, he established the function of beta-catenin as a mediator of Wnt signaling and the Frizzleds as Wnt receptors (with Jeremy Nathans), thereby establishing core elements of what is now called the Wnt pathway. A major later accomplishment of his group was the first successful purification of active Wnt proteins, showing that they are lipid-modified and act as stem cell growth factors.

The Impact: Wnt signaling is implicated in the growth of human embryos and the maintenance of tissues. Consequently, elucidating the Wnt pathway is leading to deeper insights into degenerative diseases and the development of new therapeutics. The widespread role of Wnt signaling in cancer is significant for the treatment of the disease as well. Isolating active Wnt proteins has led to the use of Wnts by researchers world-wide as stem cell growth factors and the expansion of stem cells into organ-like structures (organoids).

Dr. Mina J. Bissell Distinguished Senior Scientist, Biological Systems and Engineering Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; Faculty; Graduate Groups in Comparative Biochemistry, Endocrinology, Molecular Toxicology and Bioengineering, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA

Awarded "For characterizing "Dynamic Reciprocity" and the significant role that extracellular matrix (ECM) signaling and microenvironment play in gene regulation in normal and malignant cells, revolutionizing the fields of oncology and tissue homeostasis."

The Work: Dr. Mina Bissell's career has been driven by challenging established paradigms in cellular and developmental biology. Through her research, Dr. Bissell showed that tissue architecture plays a dominant role in determining cell and tissue phenotype and proposed the model of 'dynamic reciprocity' (DR) between the extracellular matrix (ECM) and chromatin within the cell nucleus. Dynamic reciprocity refers to the ongoing, bidirectional interaction between cells and their microenvironment. She demonstrated that the ECM could regulate gene expression just as gene expression could regulate ECM, and that these two phenomena could occur concurrently in normal or diseased tissue.

She also developed 3D culture systems to study the interaction of the microenvironment and tissue organization and growth, using the mammary gland as a model.

The Impact:Dr. Bissell's model of dynamic reciprocity has been proven and thoroughly established since its proposal three decades ago and the implications have permeated every area of cell and cancer biology, with significant implications for current and future therapies. Dr. Bissell's work has generated a fundamental and translationally crucial paradigm shift in our understanding of both normal and malignant tissues.

Her findings have had profound implications for cancer therapy by demonstrating that tumor cells can be influenced by their environment and are not just the product of their genetic mutations. For example, cells from the mammary glands grown in two-dimensional tissue cultures rapidly lose their identity, but once placed in proper three-dimensional microenvironments, they regain mammary form and function. This work presages the current excitement about generation of 3D tissue organoids and demonstrates Dr. Bissell's creative and innovative approach to science.

Dr. Elaine FuchsHoward Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and Rebecca C. Lancefield Professor and Head of the Robin Chemers Neustein Laboratory of Mammalian Cell Biology and Cell Biology; The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA

Awarded"For her studies elucidating the role of tissue stem cells in homeostasis, wound repair, inflammation and cancer."

The Work: Dr. Fuchs has used skin to study how the tissues of our body are able to replace dying cells and repair wounds. The skin must replenish itself constantly to protect against dehydration and harmful microbes. In her research, Fuchs showed that this is accomplished by a resident population of adult stem cells that continually generates a shell of indestructible cells that cover our body surface.

In her early research, Fuchs identified the proteins---keratinsthat produce the iron framework of the skin's building blocks, and showed that mutations in keratins are responsible for a group of blistering diseases in humans. In her later work, Fuchs identified the signals that prompt skin stem cells to make tissue and when to stop. In studying these processes, Fuchs learned that cancers hijack the fundamental mechanisms that tissue stem cells use to repair wounds. Her team pursued this parallel and isolated and characterized the malignant stem cells that are responsible for propagating a type of cancer called "squamous cell carcinoma." In her most recent work, she showed that these cells can be resistant to chemotherapies and immunotherapies and lead to tumor relapse.

The Impact: All tissues of our body must be able to replace dying cells and repair local wounds. Skin is particularly adept at performing these tasks. The identification and characterization of the resident skin stem cells that make and replenish the epidermis, sweat glands and hair provide important insights into this fountain of youth process and hold promise for regenerative medicine and aging. In normal tissues, the self-renewing ability of stem cells to proliferate is held in check by local inhibitory signals coming from the stem cells' neighbours. In injury, stimulatory signals mobilize the stem cells to proliferate and repair the wound. In aging, these normal balancing cues are tipped in favour of quiescence. In inflammatory disorders, stem cells become hyperactivated. In cancers, the wound mechanisms to mobilize stem cells are hijacked, leading to uncontrolled tissue growth. Understanding the basic mechanisms controlling stem cells in their native tissue is providing new strategies for searching out refractory tumor cells in cancer and for restoring normalcy in inflammatory conditions.

2020 John Dirks Canada Gairdner Global Health AwardThe 2020 John Dirks Canada Gairdner Global Health Award laureate is recognized for outstanding achievements in global health research:

Professor Salim S. Abdool KarimDirector of CAPRISA (Centre for the AIDS Program of Research in South Africa), the CAPRISA Professor in Global Health at Columbia University, New York and Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research) at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa

Professor Quarraisha Abdool KarimAssociate Scientific Director of CAPRISA, Professor in Clinical Epidemiology, Columbia University, New York and Professor in Public Health at the Nelson Mandela Medical School and Pro Vice-Chancellor (African Health) at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa

Awarded"For their discovery that antiretrovirals prevent sexual transmission of HIV, which laid the foundations for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), the HIV prevention strategy that is contributing to the reduction of HIV infection in Africa and around the world."

The Work: UNAIDS estimates that 37 million people were living with HIV and 1.8 million people acquired HIV in 2017. In Africa, which has over two thirds of all people with HIV, adolescent girls and young women have the highest rates of new HIV infections. ABC (Abstinence, Be faithful, and use Condoms) prevention messages have had little impact - due to gender power imbalances, young women are often unable to successfully negotiate condom use, insist on mutual monogamy, or convince their male partners to have an HIV test.

In responding to this crisis, Salim and Quarraisha Abdool Karim started investigating new HIV prevention technologies for women about 30 years ago. After two unsuccessful decades, their perseverance paid off when they provided proof-of-concept that antiretrovirals prevent sexually acquired HIV infection in women. Their ground-breaking CAPRISA 004 trial showed that tenofovir gel prevents both HIV infection and genital herpes. The finding was ranked inthe "Top 10 Scientific Breakthroughs of 2010" by the journal, Science. The finding was heralded by UNAIDS and the World Health Organization (WHO) as one of the most significant scientific breakthroughs in AIDS and provided the first evidence for what is today known as HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP).

The Abdool Karims have also elucidated the evolving nature of the HIV epidemic in Africa, characterising the key social, behavioural and biological risk factors responsible for the disproportionately high HIV burden in young women. Their identification of the "Cycle of HIV Transmission", where teenage girls acquire HIV from men about 10 years older on average, has shaped UNAIDS policies on HIV prevention in Africa.

The impact: CAPRISA 004 and several clinical trials of oral tenofovir led tothe WHO recommending a daily tenofovir-containing pill for PrEP as a standard HIV prevention tool for all those at high risk a few years later. Several African countries are among the 68 countries across all continents that are currently making PrEP available for HIV prevention. The research undertaken in Africa by this South African couple has played a key role in shaping the local and global response to the HIV epidemic.

2020 Canada Gairdner Wightman AwardThe 2020 Canada Gairdner Wightman Award laureate is a Canadian scientist recognized for outstanding leadership in medicine and medical science throughout their career:

Dr. Guy Rouleau Director of the Montreal Neurological Institute-Hospital (The Neuro); Professor & Chair of the Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, McGill University; Director of the Department of Neuroscience, McGill University Health Center

Awarded "For identifying and elucidating the genetic architecture of neurological and psychiatric diseases, including ALS, autism and schizophrenia, and his leadership in the field of Open Science."

The Work: Dr. Rouleau has identified over 20 genetic risk factors predisposing to a range of brain disorders, both neurological and psychiatric, involving either neurodevelopmental processes or degenerative events. He has defined a novel disease mechanism for diseases related to repeat expansions that are at play in some of the most severe neurodegenerative conditions. He has significantly contributed to the understanding of the role of de novo variants in autism and schizophrenia. In addition, he has made important advances for various neuropathies, in particular for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) where he was involved in the identification of the most prevalent genetic risk factors -which in turn are now the core of innumerable ALS studies worldwide.

Dr. Rouleau has also played a pioneering role in the practice of Open Science (OS), transforming the Montreal Neurological Institute-Hospital (The Neuro) into the first OS institution in the world. The Neuro now uses OS principles to transform research and careand accelerate the development of new treatments for patients through Open Access, Open Data, Open Biobanking, Open Early Drug Discovery and non-restrictive intellectual property.

The Impact: The identification of genetic risk factors has a number of significant consequences. First, allowing for more accurate genetic counselling, which reduces the burden of disease to affected individuals, parents and society. A revealing case is Andermann syndrome, a severe neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative condition that was once relatively common in the Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean region of Quebec. Now this disease has almost disappeared from that population. Second, identifying the causative gene allows the development of treatments. For instance, his earlier work on a form of ALS linked to the superoxide dismutase-1 gene (SOD1) opened up studies which are now the focal point of phase 2 clinical studies showing great promise.

Byactingasalivinglabforthelast coupleofyears,TheNeuroisspearheading the practice of OpenScience (OS).TheNeurois alsoengagingstakeholdersacross Canadawiththegoal of formalizinganational OSallianceforthe neurosciences.Dr.Rouleau'sworkinOScontributesfundamentallytothetransformationoftheveryecosystemofsciencebystimulatingnewthinkingandfosteringcommunitiesofsharing.InspiredbyTheNeuro'svision,theglobalsciencecommunityisreflecting oncurrentresearchconventionsandcollaborativeprojects,andthemomentumforOSisgainingafootholdinorganizationsandinstitutionsinallcornersoftheearth.

About the Gairdner Foundation:

The Gairdner Foundation was established in 1957 by Toronto stockbroker, James Gairdner to award annual prizes to scientists whose discoveries have had major impact on scientific progress and on human health. Since 1959 when the first awards were granted, 387scientists have received a Canada Gairdner Award and 92 to date have gone on to receive the Nobel Prize.The Canada Gairdner Awards promote a stronger culture of research and innovation across the country through our Outreach Programs including lectures and research symposia. The programs bring current and past laureates to a minimum of 15 universities across Canada to speak with faculty, trainees and high school students to inspire the next generation of researchers. Annual research symposia and public lectures are organized across Canada to provide Canadians access to leading science through Gairdner's convening power.

http://www.gairdner.org

SOURCE Gairdner Foundation

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2020 Canada Gairdner Awards Recognize World-renowned Scientists for Transformative Contributions to Research That Impact Human Health - Benzinga