The Lasker Awards have been awarded annually since 1945 to living persons who have made major contributions to medical science or who have performed public service on behalf of medicine. They are administered by the Lasker Foundation, which was founded by Albert Lasker and his wife Mary Woodard Lasker (later a medical research activist). The awards are sometimes referred to as "America's Nobels". The Lasker Awards have gained a reputation for identifying future winners of the Nobel Prize. Eighty-six Lasker laureates have received the Nobel Prize, including 32 in the last two decades. Claire Pomeroy is the current president of the Lasker Foundation. Award The award is given in four branches of medical science: Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award Lasker-Bloomberg Public Service Award (Renamed in 2011 from Mary Woodard Lasker Public Service Award. Renamed in 2000 from Albert Lasker Public Service Award.) Lasker-Koshland Special Achievement Award in Medical Science (1994–)(optional) The awards carry an honorarium of $250,000 for each category. A collection of papers from the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation were donated to the National Library of Medicine by Mrs. Albert D. Lasker in April 1985. In addition to the main awards, there are historical awards that are no longer awarded. Recent awards Recent winners include the following: Historical awards Awards no longer made include Special Public Health Awards, Special Awards, Group Awards, and Lasker Awards made by the International Society for the Rehabilitation of the Disabled, the National Committee Against Mental Illness, and Planned Parenthood - World Population. Awards were also presented for medical journalism. Special Public Health awards 1975 – Merck Sharp and Dohme Research Laboratories: Jr., James M. Sprague, John E. Baer, Frederick C. Novello 1980 – National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute 1984 – Dorothy T. Krieger, Kevin McLaughlin Jr. 1987 – Centennial Salute to the National Institutes of Health Special awards 1947 – Thomas Parran Jr. 1949 – Haven Emerson 1952 – Charles-Edward Amory Winslow 1956 – Alan Gregg 1959 – J. Lister Hill and John E. Fogarty Group awards 1946 – National Institutes of Health; National Regional Research Laboratory of the US Department of Agriculture; Board for the Coordination of Malarial Studies; Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine of the US Department of Agriculture; Army Epidemiological Board 1947 – British Ministry of Health and Ministry of Food; United States Committee on Joint Causes of Death 1948 –