Mary-Claire King

Awards

1. 2014

   Lasker Award — Lasker–Koshland Special Achievement Award in Medical Science

   Biology

   For bold, imaginative, and diverse contributions to medical science and human rights — she discovered the BRCA1 gene locus that causes hereditary breast cancer and deployed DNA strategies that reunite missing persons or their remains with their families.

2. 2018

   Shaw Prize — Life Science and Medicine

   Biology

   For her mapping the first breast cancer gene. Using mathematical modeling, King predicted and then demonstrated that breast cancer can be caused by a single gene. She mapped the gene which facilitated its cloning and has saved thousands of lives.

3. 2021

   Canada Gairdner International Award

   Biology

   For transforming cancer genetics and oncology with the discovery of inherited susceptibility to breast cancer due to mutation of the BRCA1 gene