Announced today: The 2006 Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research is shared by Elizabeth Blackburn of the University of California, San Francisco, Carol Greider at Johns Hopkins University, and Jack Szostak of Harvard Medical School for their research on telomerase, the enzyme responsible for maintaining the length of linear chromosomes.

In addition, Joseph Gall of the Carnegie Institution is being honored for his lifetime of discovery and innovation as a founder of modern cell biology, an inventor of in situ hybridization and an early champion of women in science. The foundation awards Gall the biannual Lasker Award for Special Achievement in Medical Science.

The Award for Clinical Medical Research goes to University of Pennsylvania psychiatrist Aaron Beck, creator of the Beck Depression Inventory.

For more detailed coverage, including interviews with all of the winners, check our homepage on Monday, September 18, and our podcast on Wednesday, September 20.