NEW YORK-OCTOBER 13: The New York Stem Cell Foundation Honors Architect Frank Gehry with The New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF) Humanitarian Award at Breaking Ground: NYSCF’s Fourth Annual Dinner on Tuesday, October 13, 2009 at The Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, New York, NY. NYSCF Board member Dr. Zach W. Hall presented NYSCF’s Leadership Award to Joel S. Marcus, Chairman and CEO of Alexandria Real Este Equities, Inc. The award honors individuals in public life who have resolutely and courageously supported stem cell research; Dr. Hall noted that Alexandria Real Estate Equities has become the nation’s most prominent developer of real estate for the life sciences. Mr. Gehry received The Humanitarian Award, created to honor people, including non scientists, who have resolutely and courageously supported stem cell research dung a time of exceptional challenge for advanced scientific research in the United States. As an architect, Mr. Gehry has always worked at the cutting edge of science and technology, and for more than four decades has been actively involved in the work of the Hereditary Disease Foundation, which supports critical research in the life sciences. Most recently, he worked with the foundation to create the Leslie Gehry Brenner Award for Innovation in Science to honor the memory of his daughter, who died in 2008 of uterine cancer. NYSCF saluted Mr. Gehry for his lifetime of support for advanced scientific research. “This has been a watershed year for stem cell research and for NYSCF,” said Susan Solomon CEO and the organization’s founder, who noted that in recent weeks several NYSCF-Druckenmiller fellows have published research that is moving scientists toward understanding and curing some of the most devastating diseases of the day. “What we have been able to achieve – with the support of so many people in this room– is nothing short of astonishing, though there is much more to accomplish.” The program also featured remarks by NYSCF board member John Eastman, a partner in Eastman and Eastman, and NYSCF Chair Roy Geronemus, M.D. Attendees included dinner co-chairs Dinner Co-Chairs: Chuck Close; Barry Diller and Diane von Furstenberg; Fiona Druckenmiller and Stan Druckenmiller; Dorothy Lichtenstein; Martha Stewart and dinner committee members Maryam and Jonathan Dickey, Jodie and John Eastman, Eileen and Richard Ekstract, Gail and Roy Geronemus M.D., Debbie and Peter Kahn, Lynn Mackler, Lisa and Michael Schultz, and Susan L. Solomon and Paul Goldberger; and Susan Towers. Also attending Henry Buhl; Karen E. Burke, MD, PhD; Russ and Judy Carson; Marjorie Chester; Lewis B. Cullman; Elizabeth Kabler; Evie Lipper M.D. and Bill Speck M.D.; Peter and Mary Kalikow; Richard Kaplan and Edwina Sandys; Richard Meier; Alice Rogoff; Shirley Lord Rosenthal; and Ambassador Carl Spielvogel and Barbara Lee Diamonstein Spielvogel. Honorary co-chairs included Senator Charles E. Shumer; Senator Kirsten Gillibrand; Senator Arlen Specter; Congressman Mike Castle; Congressman Charles B. Rangel; Congressman Jerrold Nadler; New York State Senator Thomas K. Duane. About: Founded in 2005, The New York Stem Cell Foundation is a privately funded foundation dedicated to furthering stem cell research to advance the search for cures of the major diseases of our time. The Foundation opened the first privately funded stem cell laboratory in New York City in March 2006 to serve as a “safe haven” where scientists can conduct advanced stem cell research free of federal restrictions. The organization supports scientists engaged in stem cell research through grants, fellowships and symposia; runs collaborative, state-of-the-art research facilities supported entirely with private funds and directly focused on curing disease; and educates the public about the importance and potential benefits of stem cell research. PHOTO CREDIT:Copyright ©Manhattan Society.com 2009 by Christopher London | tel: Private |e-mail: ChrisLondon@manhattansociety.com*****NOTE: More notes and id's to follow.****