Nominations are being sought, by PIASA for the 2014 Casimir Funk Natural Sciences Award

The nominee should have contributed in a major way to scientific research and be widely recognized. This year, the presentation of the Casimir Funk award will take place during the World Congress of the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America in Warsaw, June 2014.

Nominations:

1. Can be made by anyone (PIASA member or not), from anywhere in the world.
2. Should include a nomination letter stating the achievements on which the nomination is based and a brief Curriculum Vita of the nominee.
3. Will remain under consideration for 4 years.
4. Should be sent by email prior to the March 15, 2014 deadline to the Casimir Funk Natural Sciences Award Selection Committee: piasany@verizon.net

Background information:

The previous winners of the Casimir Funk Award are as follows:

• 1995 Dr. Roald Hoffmann, Nobel Prize Laureate (Chemistry) Cornell University
• 1996 Dr. Alexander Wolszczan, (Astronomy) Pennsylvania State University
• 1997 Dr. Hilary Koprowski, ( Virology , Immunology) Thomas Jefferson University
• 1998 Dr. Peter T. Wolczanski, (Chemistry) Cornell University
• 2001 Dr. Andrew Wojcicki, (Chemistry) Ohio State University
• 2003 Dr. Waclaw Szybalski, (Molecular Biology) McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research
• 2005 Dr. Benoit Mandelbrodt, ( Mathematics) Yale University
• 2008 Dr. Frank Wilczek, Nobel Prize Laureate (Physics) Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• 2013 Dr. Maria Siemionow, Cleveland Clinic

Casimir Funk, for whom the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences’ Natural Sciences Award is named, made important contributions tothe fields of hormone research, enzymology and chemical synthesis. However he is best known for his pioneering research that lead to the discovery of vitamins and for defining the role of vitamins in nutrition. Funk postulated that nutritional deficiency diseases “can be prevented and cured by the addition of certain preventive substances which we call " vitamins”. The term “vitamin” (coined by Funk from “ vita”, Latin for life, and “amine”) has become accepted as the description of a group of functionally related but structurally distinct substances.

His hypothesis has had a major impact on the direction of research in a field that, before his discoveries, was filled with controversy. His work has guided the developing science of nutrition and had an impact on biochemistry and medicine.

We look forward to hearing from you, Members of the Casimir Funk Natural Sciences Award Committee and of PIASA Board of Directors:

Hanna Chroboczek Kelker, Ph.D. (Committee Chair)
Anne Hermanowski Vosatka, M.D., Ph.D.
Wlodek Mandecki, Ph.D
www.piasa.org