Psychiatry professor emeritus Aaron Beck has been selected to receive the 2006 Albert Lasker Award for Clinical Medical Research.
The Lasker Awards are the nation's most distinguished honor for basic and medical research and are sometimes called "America's Nobels," in reference to the prestigious Nobel Prizes that are given in Stockholm, Sweden, every year.
Beck is being honored for developing a form of psychotherapy called cognitive therapy, in which a therapist and patient work together to solve the patient's issues. The therapist helps the patient by changing his or her thinking, behavior and emotional responses.
Cognitive therapy has transformed the understanding and treatment of depression, suicidal behavior, anxiety, panic attacks and eating disorders, among other psychiatric conditions.
Beck joined the School of Medicine in 1954 and has published over 500 articles and authored or co-authored 17 books.
He will receive his Lasker Award at a ceremony in New York City on Friday, Sept. 29.
