My picks for the Biotech Humantarian Award

The judging is underway for the Biotech Humanitarian Award. The pool of nominees was divided between the judges, so I’ve only seen some of them, but I’ve made my selections. One of the elements I’ve been looking for is evidence of going beyond one’s job description — how much has an individual done to drive the application of activities they’re involved with?

Here are the finalists I’m recommending:

Dr. Alain Fischer
I admire Dr. Fisher’s relentless pursuit of a promising technology that others have lost faith in — this hard-fought path is how many innovations occur.

Dr. Aristides Patrinos
Dr. Patrinos’ leadership in advancing key science and policy initiatives (like the Human Genome Project) is worthy of recognition. He has also gone on to start a company to develop genomics advances.

Dr. Brent R. Stockwell
I am impressed by Dr. Stockwell’s dedication to driving research, and going beyond the lab to push the application of his discoveries.

James Allen Heywood
Mr. Heywood has a strong record of bringing innovations into practice — in areas with rewards well beyond simple monetary compensation.

The recipient of the Humanitarian Award will be named at the BIO international convention in Chicago, IL, May 3-6, 2010.