Northwestern has created a $200,000 prize for medical science that will be awarded starting in 2016.

The Mechthild Esser Nemmers Prize in Medical Science will recognize physician-scientists whose research has a lasting impact. The 2016 recipient will deliver a lecture at NU and participate in other academic activities.

“We look forward to honoring a groundbreaking physician-scientist, someone whose interest in medicine informs and inspires his or her research,” Dr. Eric Neilson, vice president for medical affairs and Lewis Landsberg Dean at the Feinberg School of Medicine, said in a news release. “At Feinberg, we are committed to fostering scientific discovery and innovation that will benefit human health and lead to tomorrow’s cures.”

The prize was made possible by a gift from the late Erwin Esser Nemmers and the late Frederic Esser Nemmers. This is the fourth Nemmers prize established at NU, joining the Erwin Plein Nemmers Prize in Economics, the Frederic Esser Nemmers Prize in Mathematics and the Michael Ludwig Nemmers Prize in Music Composition.

Nominations for the 2016 award will be open until Sept. 15.

“Innovations in the medical field in recent years truly are astounding, and we greatly look forward to awarding the first Nemmers Prize in Medical Science,” Provost Daniel Linzer said in the release. “This is a worthy addition to the legacy and breadth of the Nemmers prizes at Northwestern.”

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