The Lasker Awards have been awarded annually since 1945 to living persons who have made major contributions to medical science or who have performed public service on behalf of medicine. They are administered by the Lasker Foundation, founded by   Albert Lasker and his wife Mary Woodard Lasker (later a medical research activist). The awards are sometimes referred to as "America's Nobels". Eighty-six Lasker laureates have received the Nobel Prize, including 32 in the last two decades. Claire Pomeroy is the current President of the Foundation.