Genesis Prize Chairman highlights immense role of Jewish
scientists and doctors in combatting the pandemic: "A very proud
moment for the entire Jewish community"
JERUSALEM, Jan. 19, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, The Genesis
Prize Foundation announced Dr. Albert
Bourla, Chairman and CEO of Pfizer, as the 2022 Genesis
Prize Laureate. Dr. Bourla received the largest number of votes in
a recently concluded global campaign, during which 200,000 people
in 71 countries voted online. The choice of the voters was
unanimously endorsed by the nine judges on the Genesis Prize
Selection Committee.
The Committee commended Dr. Bourla for his leadership,
determination, and especially for his willingness to assume great
risks. Unlike CEOs of most other major companies working on
developing COVID-19 vaccines, Dr. Bourla declined billions of
dollars in US federal subsidies in order to avoid government
bureaucracy and expedite development and production of the vaccine.
As a result, Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine was ready in record
time: months instead of years.
The annual $1 million Genesis
Prize, dubbed the "Jewish Nobel" by TIME Magazine,
honors extraordinary individuals for their outstanding professional
achievement, contribution to humanity, and commitment to Jewish
values. Dr. Bourla becomes the ninth Genesis Prize Laureate. He
follows filmmaker and philanthropist Steven
Spielberg, who was awarded the Genesis Prize in 2021, and
the legendary human rights activist Natan Sharansky, the 2020
Laureate.
The President of Israel Isaac
Herzog will present the Genesis Prize to Dr. Bourla at a
ceremony in Jerusalem planned for
June 29.
In line with the tradition established by the inaugural Laureate
Michael Bloomberg, all Genesis Prize honorees have chosen to forgo
the monetary award to philanthropic causes. Dr. Bourla
has asked The Genesis Prize Foundation to direct his $1 million prize award to projects aimed at
preserving the memory of the victims of the Holocaust, with a
particular emphasis on the tragedy suffered by the Greek Jewish
community.
Born in Thessaloniki, Greece,
Dr. Bourla was raised in a family that knew the horrors of the
Holocaust first-hand. His parents were among only 2,000 survivors
out of a once-thriving, ancient Jewish community of 50,000, almost
completely wiped out by the Nazis.
"I am delighted to welcome Dr. Albert
Bourla to the distinguished family of Genesis Prize
Laureates," said Co-Founder and Chairman of The Genesis Prize
Foundation Stan Polovets. "Dr. Bourla personifies two of the most
fundamental Jewish values: the commitment to the sanctity of life
and to repairing the world. And while the pandemic is far
from over, millions of people are alive and healthy because of what
Dr. Bourla and his team at Pfizer have accomplished."
Dr. Albert Bourla said: "I did
not set out to live a public life, and I never could have imagined
that I might one day receive the profound honor of the Genesis
Prize and stand alongside my extraordinary fellow nominees. I
accept it humbly and on behalf of all my Pfizer colleagues who
answered the urgent call of history these past two years and
together bent the arc of our common destiny. I was brought up in a
Jewish family who believed that each of us is only as strong as the
bonds of our community; and that we are all called upon by God to
repair the world. I look forward to being in Jerusalem to accept this honor in person,
which symbolizes the triumph of science and a great hope for our
future."
In announcing the selection of Dr. Bourla, The Genesis Prize
Foundation noted the wide-ranging contribution of numerous Jewish
scientists, doctors, and healthcare officials in helping to save
lives during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Foundation specifically
highlighted the contributions of the following individuals:
- Dr. Drew Weissman,
Professor of Vaccine Research at the University of Pennsylvania, whose discovery of a
novel nucleoside-modified mRNA platform enabled the creation of
pioneering mRNA vaccines;
- Dr. Mikael Dolsten, Chief Scientific Officer, Pfizer,
who guided the development of the Pfizer vaccine in record
time;
- Dr. Tal Zaks, Chief
Medical Officer of Moderna during the development of the successful
mRNA 1273 vaccine;
- Dr. Joanne Waldstreicher,
Chief Medical Officer of Johnson & Johnson, which delivered a
successful COVID-19 vector vaccine;
- Academician Alexander Gintsburg, Director, Gamaleya
Institute for Epidemiology and Microbiology, which developed the
Sputnik vaccine;
- Dr. Anatoly Altstein,
Chief Scientist, Gamaleya Institute for Epidemiology and
Microbiology, who led the development of the Sputnik vaccine;
- Dr. Rochelle Walensky,
Director, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which
coordinates the US public health response to the pandemic;
- Jeffrey Zients, the White
House Coronavirus Response Coordinator, who oversees the US federal
government response to the pandemic, including vaccine
distribution.
Genesis Prize Chairman Stan
Polovets said: "This is a very proud moment, not just for
Dr. Bourla, but for the entire Jewish community. A people so small
in number are having such an outsized impact on this global effort
to save lives."
Polovets added: "Dr. Bourla is a bright star in the
constellation of outstanding Jewish scientists and doctors at the
forefront of fighting the pandemic. We hope that these
extraordinary individuals, and their colleagues, join us in
Jerusalem to further unite in our
common resolve to save lives and honor our heritage."
BACKGROUND
The Genesis Prize is a global award that celebrates
Jewish achievement and contribution to humanity. Launched in 2013,
the Prize is financed through a permanent endowment of $100 million established by The Genesis Prize
Foundation.
Previous Genesis Prize laureates are former New York City Mayor and philanthropist
Michael Bloomberg (2014); actor,
producer and peace activist Michael
Douglas (2015); Itzhak
Perlman, virtuoso violinist and advocate for individuals
with special needs (2016); sculptor and advocate for the rights of
refugees Sir Anish Kapoor (2017);
Oscar-winning actress and social activist Natalie Portman (2018); owner of New England
Patriots and founder of a new foundation to combat antisemitism
Robert Kraft (2019); legendary
Jewish leader and human rights activist Natan Sharansky (2020) and
filmmaker Steven Spielberg (2021).
In 2018, The Genesis Prize Foundation honored U.S. Supreme Court
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg with its
inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award for her contribution to social
justice and equal rights. In 2021, the late Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks was honored with a posthumous
Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his illustrious
life-long work as a teacher of Jewish values and proponent of
inter-religious and intercultural dialogue.
All previous Laureates have re-gifted their monetary awards to
philanthropic causes about which they are passionate. Since
inception, The Genesis Prize has leveraged the annual $1 million award into philanthropic initiatives
totaling $45 million, with grants
going to 197 nonprofit programs in 31 countries, directly impacting
the lives of tens of thousands of people.
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