Yalow became the first woman to win the Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research, recognizing radioimmunoassay’s impact on medicine.
On 22 September 1976, Rosalyn Yalow received the Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research, becoming the first woman to win the prize in that category. The award recognized the scientific significance of her work on radioimmunoassay, a method that made it possible to measure tiny quantities of hormones and other biological substances with unprecedented precision.
This was a major barrier-breaking moment in the recognition of women in biomedical science. By the 1970s, women scientists still faced a steep gender gap in laboratory leadership, major awards, and professional prestige. Yalow’s Lasker win signaled that her work had become indispensable to modern medicine, not merely innovative. The prize also helped confirm radioimmunoassay as one of the most important measurement techniques in biology and endocrinology, paving the way for more accurate hormone testing, disease research, and clinical diagnostics.