Daniel Nathans Memorial Award

The Daniel Nathans Memorial Award was established in 2000 to honor the memory of Dr. Daniel Nathans, a distinguished member of the scientific community and a founding member of Van Andel Research Institute’s Board of Scientific Advisors. During his tenure, Dan was suffering from cancer and, in 1999, sadly, he succumbed to this disease.

Dan was a superb scientist and a very special individual. He studied a very important early virus model system for cancer, the SV40 virus. SV40 has been a powerful scientific tool. Dan, using a restriction enzyme from his colleague Ham Smith that would cleave DNA at a specific DNA sequence, cut SV40 DNA into precise fragments. With this simple experiment, Dan provided the world with a gateway to recombinant DNA and a result that stimulated a field to be called genomics. In recognition of his achievements, Dan was awarded the 1978 recipient of the Nobel Prize, which he shared with his colleague Hamilton O. Smith and Swiss microbiologist Werner Arber.

The Daniel Nathans Award, conferred by Van Andel Institute’s Board of Scientific Advisors, is established in perpetuity and recognizes individuals who emulate Dan and his contributions to biomedical and cancer research. The awardee’s contributions must be far reaching and significantly benefit public health.

Past Recipients

• 2006: Harald zur Hausen, M.D., and Douglas R. Lowy, M.D.
• 2005: Tony Hunter, Ph.D., and Tony Pawson, Ph.D.
• 2004: Brian Druker, M.D.
• 2003: Robert A. Weinberg, Ph.D.
• 2002: Lawrence H. Einhorn, M.D.
• 2001: Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D.
• 2000: Richard D. Klausner, M.D.