image: Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu alongside 2006 Albert Einstein Award recipient George Poste, director of the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University. view more
Credit: Biodesign Institute
Co-honorees for the Einstein award were Professor James Rothman of Columbia University in New York and Carl Feldbaum, President Emeritus of the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) in Washington, DC. Former awardees include Francis Collins, Director, Human Genome Project; Dick LeFave, Chief Information Officer, Nextel; Jeremy Levin, Head, R&D, Novartis; Fred Frank, Vice Chairman, Lehman Brothers; Tsvi Gal, President, AT&T's ATT.COM.
Due to the sudden crisis in Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was unable to present this year's awards and former Israeli Prime Ministers Shimon Peres and Benjamin Netanyahu presided over the ceremony and the award presentations.
At the same ceremony the Honorable John Ashcroft, former US Attorney General and the Honorable Tommy Thompson, former US Secretary, Health and Human Services were presented with the Theodor Hertzl Award for advancing justice and democracy.
This latest award adds to many honors that Poste has received for his contributions to international health. He has received honorary degrees in science, law and letters and has been accorded the rank of Commander of the British Empire by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. He has been elected a Fellow of the Prestigious Royal Society and the Academy of Medicine in Great Britain. In 2004, he was recognized as Scientist of the Year by R&D Magazine in the USA.
In addition to his contributions to medicine and international healthcare policy, Poste has received recognition for his contributions to US national security. He serves as a member of the Defense Science Board that advises the President and Secretary of Defense and has been elected a Distinguished Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University and a Member of the prestigious Council of Foreign Relations in New York to which Governor Napolitano was elected recently. He serves on a number of panels of the US National Academy of Sciences related to national security and is a member of the Institute of Medicine Board on Global Health and The Forum for Microbial Threats.
Poste and his wife, Dr. Linda Lopez, reside in Scottsdale. Poste joined ASU in 2003 to lead the formation of the Biodesign Institute which is the largest investment in the State of Arizona in advanced research and the largest single recipient of US government grant funding in Arizona.
The Biodesign Institute at ASU integrates diverse fields of science to cure and prevent disease, overcome the limitations of injury, renew the environment and improve national security. By fusing research in biology, engineering, medicine, physics, information technology and cognitive science, the institute accelerates discoveries into uses that can be adopted rapidly by the private sector. For information, visit www.biodesign.asu.edu or call (480) 727-8322.