Description
The never-before-told story of the woman who moved mountains for medical research and human health. "I am opposed to heart disease and cancer the way one is opposed to sin." With that as her battle cry, health activist and philanthropist Mary Woodard Lasker had a singular goal: saving lives by increasing medical research. Together with her husband, advertising genius Albert, they created the Lasker Foundation, bestowing the Lasker Awards. Known as the "American Nobels," these became the most prestigious research awards in America. The Laskers' next step was transforming the sleepy and ineffectual American Society for the Control of Cancer, reinventing it as the American Cancer Society in 1944.
But the real increase in medical research funding occurred when Mary discovered a revolutionary source: the federal government. "I'm just a catalytic agent," she would insist, while she tirelessly lobbied Congress and presidents alike. She played a major role in expanding the National Institutes of Health from a single entity to the largest research facility in the world. A feminist who used her femininity wisely, Mary's ultimate victory was bringing together two political adversaries to help launch the original cancer moonshot: the 1971 National Cancer Act.
This deeply researched biography paints the portrait of a woman who was savvy, steely, and deliberate. Mary Lasker courageously positioned herself at the crossroads of politics, science, and medicine. At a time when women in re- search laboratories and the halls of Congress were anomalies, she smashed stereotypes in the fashion of Jeannette Rankin, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Shirley Chisholm. As eloquently described in this absorbing history, the country's march to conquer humanity's most feared maladies was well- fueled by its fearless and feisty crusader, Mary Lasker.
Author: Judith L. Pearson
Publisher: Mayo Clinic Press
Published: 09/19/2023
Pages: 336
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.46lbs
Size: 9.30h x 6.10w x 1.30d
ISBN13: 9798887701561
ISBN10: 8887701563
BISAC Categories:
- Biography & Autobiography | Women
- Biography & Autobiography | Medical (Incl. Patients)
But the real increase in medical research funding occurred when Mary discovered a revolutionary source: the federal government. "I'm just a catalytic agent," she would insist, while she tirelessly lobbied Congress and presidents alike. She played a major role in expanding the National Institutes of Health from a single entity to the largest research facility in the world. A feminist who used her femininity wisely, Mary's ultimate victory was bringing together two political adversaries to help launch the original cancer moonshot: the 1971 National Cancer Act.
This deeply researched biography paints the portrait of a woman who was savvy, steely, and deliberate. Mary Lasker courageously positioned herself at the crossroads of politics, science, and medicine. At a time when women in re- search laboratories and the halls of Congress were anomalies, she smashed stereotypes in the fashion of Jeannette Rankin, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Shirley Chisholm. As eloquently described in this absorbing history, the country's march to conquer humanity's most feared maladies was well- fueled by its fearless and feisty crusader, Mary Lasker.
Author: Judith L. Pearson
Publisher: Mayo Clinic Press
Published: 09/19/2023
Pages: 336
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.46lbs
Size: 9.30h x 6.10w x 1.30d
ISBN13: 9798887701561
ISBN10: 8887701563
BISAC Categories:
- Biography & Autobiography | Women
- Biography & Autobiography | Medical (Incl. Patients)
About the Author
Judith Pearson is an award-winning author of three previous books, he Wolves at the Door: The True Story of America's Greatest Female Spy; Belly of the Beast: A POW's Inspiring True Story of Faith, Courage and Survival Aboard a WWII Hell Ship, and From Shadows to Life: A Biography of the Cancer Survivorship Movement, which won the 2022 Nautilus Gold Award. A graduate of Michigan State University, Pearson and her husband live at the base of the Phoenix Mountain Preserve.