The Price is Right...for curing disease and extending life

Yamaha by Delta Spirit from the Warm Bodies Soundtrack (great movie btw)

What is the best way to promote research aimed at curing intractable diseases and extending human life? For a group of sponsors including Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Apple chairman Art Levinson, the answer is to incentivize breakthroughs with a $3 million prize. The Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences is awarded 5 times annually, "for past achievements in the field of life sciences, with the aim of providing the recipients with more freedom and opportunity to pursue even greater future accomplishments."

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Previous winners include Shinya Yamanaka for research on induced pluripotent stem cells, and Eric S. Lander for enabling the identification of human disease genes in a medically relevant manner. There have been 11 winners of the prize so far, all of whom reside on the committee to review and select future awardees, who then join the selection committee.

I think this award is not only a great promotion of cutting edge, significant research aimed at the biggest health concerns of today - namely cancer and aging - but, also an excellent opportunity to get the general public interested and involved. Thinking about those most famous in the public eye, you would be hard pressed to find a person who could name a research scientist or doctor. While athletes, musicians, actors, and politicians dominate the pop culture landscape, it's time to look at the bigger societal picture and really give credit and prominence to those who deserve it.

                                                              

Here is an excellent blog post by @GrrlScientist on why the prize may not be so great and how it could be modified to more effectively promote research.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/grrlscientist/2013/feb/21/breakthrough-prize-life-sciences-misguided-flawed
While I agree with much of what is said about not acknowledging everyone involved in collaborative research efforts, I believe that acknowledging a sole scientific leader sticks in peoples minds more so than a large group and helps bring science mainstream with an identifiable spokesperson.