The 2024 Richard N. Merkin Prize in Biomedical Technology, which was awarded to F. William Studier of Brookhaven National Laboratory in a ceremony and symposium at the Broad Institute last month, has some local ties.
First, the Broad Institute was founded by the late Eli Broad and his wife Edythe Broad. The two are behind the Broad art museum in downtown. Broad is one of the wealthiest people in L.A. with a net worth of roughly $11 billion.
Richard Merkin, who the prize is named for, is the founder and chief executive of the Heritage Provider Network, based in Northridge.
Studier developed an efficient, scalable method of producing RNA and proteins in the laboratory.
“You have helped millions of people. Biomedicine has changed because of you, and humanity needs to acknowledge people like you,” Merkin said of Studier’s work.
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Los Angeles County breweries had a strong showing at this month’s Great American Beer Festival in Denver.
Ten breweries took home medals in the annual contest put on by the Brewers Association, a feat best punctuated by Chinatown-based Highland Park Brewery taking home four gold medals and the coveted Brewery and Brewer of the Year title. That brewery’s gold medals were for Competition in the American-style IPA category; Timbo in the American-style pale ale category; Baseball in the contemporary American-style lager category; and DDH Pillow in the juicy or hazy imperial IPA category.
Other local gold medal winners included Long Beach-based Ambitious Ales for Professional Human Being in the juicy or hazy IPA category; downtown-based Audio Graph Beer Co. for Bass Clef in the wood- and barrel-aged strong beer category; Hawthorne-based Far Field Beer Co. for Two Wheeler in the herb and spice beer category; Thousand Oaks-based Tarantula Hill Brewing Co. for Who’s That Brown in the American-style brown ale category; and Long Beach-based Trademark Brewing for Codebreaker in the West Coast IPA category.
Local silver medal winners included downtown-based Angel City Brewery for Apple Pomace Puncheon in the Belgian-style sour ale category; Lancaster-based Bravery Brewing Co. for Brighton ESB in the extra special bitter category; and Trademark Brewing for A La Playa in the American fruit beer category.
Local bronze medal winners included Long Beach-based ISM Brewing for Plough & Harrow in the classic saison category and Malibu-based Malibu Brewing Co. for Big Rock Amber Lager in the American amber lager category.
Zane Hill contributed to this report.
