The Albany Medical Center in Albany, New York, announced that three scientists, including CiRA Director Shinya Yamanaka, have won the 11th annual Albany Medical Center Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research. Yamanaka shares the prize with Dr. James A. Thomson, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health and Dr. Elaine Fuchs, a professor at Rockefeller University.

Yamanaka and Thomson reported the discoveries of how to reprogram human somatic cells back to an embryonic state in their separate labs in 2007. These induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells are now used in laboratories worldwide, and may become an alternative approach of using embryonic stem (ES) cells.

Yamanaka first reported in 2006 the generation of mouse iPS cells. The reprogramming technology has revolutionized basic biology to speed the progress of the understanding of disease mechanisms and development of new, safe and effective therapeutics and future stem cell-based therapies, according to the center.

The Albany Medical Center incorporates Albany Medical Center Hospital, Albany Medical College and Albany Medical Center Foundation, Inc. The prize was created in 2000 to honor scientists who have demonstrated outstanding outcomes.

Albany Medical Center: http://www.amc.edu/PR/PressRelease/03_16_11_A.html