Chicago donor creates new biomedical science prize

Chicago philanthropist Ann Lurie has established a new prize for researchers who are early in their careers and whose findings have advanced basic biomedical science.

The first Lurie Prize in Biomedical Sciencesgoes to Ruslan Medzhitov of Yale University School of Medicine. The Foundation for the National Institutes of Health announced the winner Tuesday.

The prize honors the 46-year-old scientist’s discoveries related to the innate immune system, the human body’s first line of defense against infection.

The award comes with an honorarium of $100,000 and will be presented to Medzhitov on May 14 in Chicago.