The Pershing Square Sohn Prize announced at Galien Forum

The Pershing Square Sohn Prize for Young Investigators in Cancer Research was announced on October 22 at the annual Galien Forum in New York. Participating in the announcement were Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg; Bill Ackman, founder and CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management; Evan Sohn, vice president of the Sohn Conference Foundation, and Marc Tessier-Lavigne, Ph.D., president of The Rockefeller University. The Prize will be the first initiative of the Pershing Square Sohn Cancer Research Alliance and will provide select New York City-area scientists focused on early-stage cancer research with a stipend of $200,000 per year for up to three years, enabling them to pursue groundbreaking research at a stage where traditional funding is lacking.

The Alliance will also provide a $1 million grant to the Sohn Conference Foundation to support the Damon Runyon-Sohn Pediatric Cancer Fellowship. Olivia Tournay Flatto, Ph.D. is the executive director of the Pershing Square Sohn Cancer Research Alliance and leads the Pershing Square Sohn Prize.

“The Pershing Square Foundation and the Sohn Conference Foundation are two of our city’s leading philanthropies committed to helping people live healthier and more fulfilling lives,” said Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. “

This pioneering new effort to foster and reward scientific innovation will accelerate the advancement of one of our city’s fastest-growing industries – the commercial life sciences. That’s going to make New York City even more of a world leader in this flourishing and critically important area of research.”