# Lasker Foundation

Source: https://onco.cc/institutions/lasker-foundation/  
OnCo record `lasker-foundation` (Institution). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

The foundation Albert and Mary Lasker set up in 1942 to push medical research up the public agenda; its Lasker Awards became the most watched prize in American medicine.

## Summary

Albert Lasker, the advertising pioneer (1880-1952), and Mary Woodard Lasker (1901-1994) founded the Lasker Foundation in 1942. Its stated mission is to improve health by accelerating support for medical research through recognition of research excellence, advocacy, and education. The Lasker Awards, given since the mid-1940s, honour basic and clinical research and public service; the Foundation also runs education and advocacy programmes. Alongside Mary Lasker's lobbying for the National Cancer Act of 1971, the Foundation was the platform from which the Laskers turned cancer research into a matter of national policy.

## Fields

- Kind: Institution
- Last checked: 2026-09-10
- Also known as: Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation
- City: New York, US
- Type: consortium
- Website: https://laskerfoundation.org

## Sources

- About the Lasker Foundation: https://laskerfoundation.org/about/

## Connected records

- people: [Albert Lasker](https://onco.cc/people/albert-lasker/), [Mary Lasker](https://onco.cc/people/mary-lasker/)
- bottlenecks: [Funding follows fashion, not burden](https://onco.cc/bottlenecks/b-funding-allocation/), [Knowledge reaches practice too slowly](https://onco.cc/bottlenecks/b-knowledge-diffusion/)

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JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/lasker-foundation.json