Harvard Medical School professor Joel F. Habener won the 2024 Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award for his work on the glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), the Lasker Foundation announced last Thursday.

Each year, the Lasker Awards honor a number of medical professionals doing standout work in research and public service. The New York Times has called the awards “the nation’s most prestigious medical prizes.

This year’s prestigious Lasker medical awards recognize a trio of scientists without whom Ozempic and other blockbuster weight-loss drugs might not exist. The work of Joel Habener, a physician-investigator at the Mass General Research Institute and Harvard Medical School professor;

Three scientists are honored for developing a class of blockbuster weight-loss drugs. Is a Nobel prize on the way?

Developed to treat diabetes, drugs like Ozempic now help fight obesity. Scientists newly honoured for working on them recall their findings.

Three scientists were recognized by the Lasker Awards for their work on the GLP-1 hormone. Others were honored for work to stop H.I.V. and for immune system discoveries.

James Chen, a professor of microbiology at UT Southwestern Medical Center, has won a Lasker Award for his discovery of an enzyme involved in immune response.

Weight-loss drugs like Ozempic are booming in popularity, but experts warn they aren't silver bullets for obesity.

James Chen of UT Southwestern Medical Center wins an award for his research into cGAS. (UT Southwestern Medical Center/Lasker Foundation) 5 minutes ago