Sept. 29, 2020

Three medical science innovators have been named finalists for the $1 million Sanford Lorraine Cross Award.

The biennial prize is the nation’s largest award in medicine given by a health system, using what Sanford called “rigorous machine learning in its selection process.”

The finalists are:

Dr. Mark Denison, director of pediatric infectious diseases, principle investor of Denison Lab, departments of pediatrics and pathology, Vanderbilt University. Denison has studied coronaviruses since the 1980s. In 2007, his lab discovered that coronaviruses have a protein that acts as a powerful proofreader during replication, meaning that the virus can self-correct errors in its RNA sequence. Through a partnership with Gilead Sciences, they discovered Remdesivir, a drug that can evade the proofreading system and terminate the growth, thus killing the virus. Though Remdesivir was shelved after failed attempts to treat hepatitis and Ebola, it has experienced a rebirth during today’s COVID-19 pandemic and is undergoing clinical trials for treatment.

Dr. Carl June, director of the Center for Cellular Immunotherapies, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania. June, working with colleague Dr. Bruce Levine, was able to reprogram selected T cells to recognize and destroy leukemia cancer cells. This therapy is now named KYMRIAH by Novartis and is FDA-approved to treat acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).  In 2010, June and Levine treated their first patient – a retired 65-year-old corrections officer named Bill Ludwig. After just a few infusions, Ludwig fell severely ill and spent a week in the ICU. Then, all of the sudden, he woke up and found the masses had disappeared.

Dr. Michael Welsh, investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute; director, Pappajohn Biomedical Institute, Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa.  Welsh is a pulmonary physician who wanted to know how human airways work, particularly how salt ions move across the airway wall. This led him to study cystic fibrosis an inherited disease that causes lifelong vulnerability to destructive lung infections and an early death. Welsh has made multiple research breakthroughs related to CF including a discovery that ignited drug development and led to advances to the point that 90 percent of patients now have a highly effective therapy.

The Lorraine Cross winner will be named at a ceremony in Sioux Falls on Dec. 8.

“Sanford Health has a long history of relentlessly challenging the status quo to improve health care,” said CEO Kelby Krabbenhoft in a statement.  “The Sanford Lorraine Cross Award honors someone pioneering that change with a medical breakthrough, innovation or treatment to transform global health. It starts with a $1 million prize, and it continues with a life-changing impact for us all.”

While traditional awards in the medical sciences focus on the significance of the contribution of a researcher or clinician, Sanford said its award celebrates the role that the award candidate has played in bringing a new emerging transformative medical innovation across the finish line to patients, and their efforts in overcoming challenges, forging collaborations, and ensuring a successful outcome.

Finalists are determined through a selection process that uses machine learning to identify innovative areas of discovery and breakthrough science. The candidate selection is then focused on the areas with the most promising transformative potential for patients. An interdisciplinary scientific advisory board narrowed down the top areas of innovation. The individuals who have made the greatest contribution in these three areas are then identified as the finalists.

The award is named after the Cross of Lorraine, a global symbol first chosen as emblematic for those who took action against disease in 1902 at the International Tuberculosis Congress in Berlin.

The Sanford Lorraine Cross Award is supported in perpetuity through an endowment established by donors to the Sanford Health Foundation.

Sanford names gene pioneers $1 million Lorraine Cross winners