Virginia M.Y. Lee, PhD, MBA, and John Q. Trojanowski, MD, PhD, both professors of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, have received the John Scott Award and $12,000 for their contribution to research in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.
"It is our great pleasure at the Board of Directors of City Trusts to honor these distinguished winners and applaud their extraordinary achievements in science and medicine," said Hon. Ronald R. Donatucci, President of The Board of Directors of City Trusts. "The John Scott Award is given to 'the most deserving men and women for their outstanding contributions to mankind.' Clearly, as world renowned leaders in their field, they have epitomized the purpose of the award."
The donor, John Scott, was an Edinburgh chemist, who in the early 1800s set up a fund to award "ingenious men or women who make useful inventions." The Board of Directors of City Trusts is charged with the administration of 115 trusts left to the City of Philadelphia for charitable purposes.
Lee and Trojanowski, both professional and personal partners, are co-directors of the Center for Neurodegenerative Disease Research (CNDR). Among other roles, Lee is the John H. Ware 3rd Professor in Alzheimer's Research and co-director of the Marian S. Ware Alzheimer Drug Discovery Program. Trojanowski is also director of the Institute on Aging and the William Maul Measey-Truman G. Schnabel, Jr. MD Professor of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology.
The Board of City Trusts will acknowledge Lee and Trojanowski at a reception at the American Philosophical Society in November.
Penn Medicine is one of the world’s leading academic medical centers, dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, excellence in patient care, and community service. The organization consists of the University of Pennsylvania Health System and Penn’s Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine, founded in 1765 as the nation’s first medical school.
The Perelman School of Medicine is consistently among the nation's top recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health, with $550 million awarded in the 2022 fiscal year. Home to a proud history of “firsts” in medicine, Penn Medicine teams have pioneered discoveries and innovations that have shaped modern medicine, including recent breakthroughs such as CAR T cell therapy for cancer and the mRNA technology used in COVID-19 vaccines.
The University of Pennsylvania Health System’s patient care facilities stretch from the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania to the New Jersey shore. These include the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, Chester County Hospital, Lancaster General Health, Penn Medicine Princeton Health, and Pennsylvania Hospital—the nation’s first hospital, founded in 1751. Additional facilities and enterprises include Good Shepherd Penn Partners, Penn Medicine at Home, Lancaster Behavioral Health Hospital, and Princeton House Behavioral Health, among others.
Penn Medicine is an $11.1 billion enterprise powered by more than 49,000 talented faculty and staff.