The New York Academy of Sciences Hosts 10th Annual Science & the City Gala; Honors NY’s Ascendant Scientific Community

NEW YORK, November 18, 2013—This evening, the New York Academy of Sciences brings together more than 400 global leaders in academia, government, and industry, at its Science & the City 10th Annual Gala. This year's Gala, which takes place at Cipriani 42nd Street in New York City, is a grand celebration of the institutions and visionary leaders who have made New York the newest, most vibrant international hub for groundbreaking science and technology.

To this end, the Academy will release a landmark publication, New York: A Science State of Mind, at the Gala. Created with the participation of 25 research universities and academic medical centers; scores of innovative scientific and technology organizations; leading tri-state-area corporations in research and development; and major philanthropists and foundations, the publication serves as a vivid window into the scientific renaissance sweeping the NY tri-state region.

"Thanks to its unprecedented scale of talent, its institutional ambition, and the peerless collaboration among former competitors—points underscored in our publication—New York has reached an exhilarating tipping point," says the New York Academy of Sciences President & CEO Ellis Rubinstein. "Among cities known for science, New York now emerges as the place to make world-changing discoveries. And its entrepreneurial fever has the promise of bringing new inventions to market at scale The Academy is exceedingly proud of the role it plays in this vibrant and robust scientific ecosystem."

As an embodiment of the pioneering work taking place in the New York region, the brilliant winners of the 2013 Regional Blavatnik Awards for Young Sciences were feted by Gala attendees. Established in 2007 by the Blavatnik Family Foundation, this awards program recognizes researchers who make innovative and impactful advances in the life and physical sciences, mathematics, and engineering.

Seven winners and five finalists were selected for their exceptional research from a pool of more than 160 nominations submitted by 43 research institutions in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. All winners and finalists receive unrestricted cash prizes made possible by the generosity of the Blavatnik Family Foundation.

The 2013 Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists honorees are:

Faculty Winners
David Blei, Computer Science, Princeton University
Kristjan Haule, Condensed Matter Physics, Rutgers University
Patrick Holland, Inorganic Chemistry, University of Rochester (now at Yale University)
Samie Jaffrey, Chemical Biology, Weill Cornell Medical College
Frans Pretorius, Astrophysics, Princeton University

Postdoctoral Winners
Jonathan Fisher, Cognitive Neuroscience, The Rockefeller University (now at New York Medical College)
Rachel Rosen, Astrophysics, Columbia University (Institute for Strings, Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics)

Postdoctoral Finalists
Bi-Sen Ding, Physiology, Weill Cornell Medical College
Emily Hodges, Genetics & Genomics, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Mariangela Lisanti, Nuclear & Particle Physics, Princeton University
Jason MacGurn, Cell Biology, Cornell University
Xiankai Sun, Electrical Engineering, Yale University

For more information, visit www.blavatnikawards.org.

The 2013 Gala is underwritten by Jim & Marilyn Simons and the Zhongxu Group, with additional funding from a host of generous corporate and individual supporters.

About The Blavatnik Family Foundation

The Blavatnik Family Foundation is an active supporter of educational, scientific, cultural, and charitable institutions in the United States, the United Kingdom, Israel, and throughout the world. Recipients of Foundation support include, among others, Oxford University, Harvard University, Tel Aviv University, Tate, The Royal Opera House, The Hermitage, The National Portrait Gallery, The British Museum, The National Gallery of Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Academy of Sciences, The White Nights Foundation, The Center for Jewish History and other Jewish causes as well as many other philanthropic institutions. The Foundation is headed by Len Blavatnik, an American industrialist. Mr. Blavatnik is the founder and Chairman of Access Industries, a privately-held U.S. industrial group with global interests in natural resources and chemicals, media and telecommunications, and real estate.

About the New York Academy of Sciences

The New York Academy of Sciences is an independent, not-for-profit organization that since 1817 has been committed to advancing science, technology, and society worldwide. With 25,000 members in 140 countries, the Academy is creating a global community of science for the benefit of humanity. The Academy's core mission is to advance scientific knowledge, positively impact the major global challenges of society with science-based solutions, and increase the number of scientifically informed individuals in society at large. Please visit us online at www.nyas.org.