SNF Co-President Andreas Dracopoulos is Honored by the New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF)

Past recipients of the NYSCF Humanitarian Award include the world renowned architect Frank Gehry and pioneering artists Chuck Close and Christo.

Roy Geronemus, MD, was also be honored during the event with the NYSCF Leadership Award, and Clifford Ross received the NYSCF Arts Leadership Award.

The New York Stem Cell Foundation was founded in 2005, with the mission to cure the major diseases of our time through stem cell research. In addition to conducting innovative stem cell research in their own laboratories, NYSCF also supports and convenes global stem cell thought leaders and the broader stem cell community.

The SNF has supported NYSCF most recently via support for the organization’s new laboratories and headquarters, the NYSCF Research Institute in New York. The central corridor of the facility, which showcases NYSCF’s research developments, has been named “Τhe Stavros Niarchos Foundation Gallery”.

Mr. Dracopoulos has stated regarding the SNF’s support of the NYSCF  “When a proposal comes to our Foundation we always use two main criteria, the one is to add value to society at large and number two are the people involved committed, ethical, professional, able. I think in this case it was an easy yes on both cases. We love the spirit of collaboration and the openness and the fact that there is research not just for the sake of research itself but more about finding ways to accelerate to cure diseases.”

Paul Goldberger, a distinguished architectural critic who holds the Joseph Urban Chair in Design and Architecture at The New School in New York City and was formerly Dean of the Parsons School of Design, introduced Andreas Dracopoulos on the stage. Mr. Goldberger said “The boldness of Andreas Dracopoulos extends far beyond his support of new organizations like The New York Stem Cell Foundation; the Stavros Niarchos Foundation has been a great supporter of culture as well as science, and underwrote the entire cost of planning and constructing the new Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center in Athens, an ambitious project by the architect Renzo Piano, for which Andreas was the model of an active, engaged client. He oversaw every aspect of this $861-million project—slightly larger than the budget for the new NYSCF lab you just heard about!—protecting it under the most challenging circumstances during Greece’s period of great political turmoil. The result is one of the important buildings of our time.”

To read the full speech, please click here.