Musgrave gold medallist hails work of other outstanding J’cans
Dr Franklyn Prendergast, who was Thursday awarded the prestigious Musgrave Gold Medal for his outstanding service in biochemistry and cancer research by the Institute of Jamaica, hailed the work of the many Jamaicans whom he said have impressive achievements but have not been similarly recognised.
Professor Prendergast, the director of the Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Research Centre in the United States, said he was concerned more with achievements, and noted that there are “an awful lot of native sons and daughters in this country who have achieved but who have not been honoured with Musgrave Gold Medals”.
At the same time, he said that he had as yet achieved what he wanted to achieve “and I am accepting this medal not for what I have done but for what I must do”.
“I have spent a lot of my time devoted to medicine and it is now time that I devote myself to a far greater purpose, and therefore it is on this basis that I am accepting this medal not for what I have done but for what I must do,” said the director of the Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Research Centre, which has 46,000 employees, including 14,000 nurses, and an annual budget of $5. 3 billion.
Education Minister Maxine Henry-Wilson, who presented the Musgrave Gold Medal at the function held in the Institute’s lecture hall, said that Jamaica was a country in need of home-grown problem-solvers like Professor Prendergast, as the nation tackles first world socio-economic issues within the confines of a third world economy.
“We need to continue to produce financiers, entrepreneurs, thinkers, artists, dancers, sportsmen and women, and scientists, who, through their efforts, continue to uplift our people,” Henry-Wilson said.
She also hailed the work of other outstanding Jamaican scientists, whom she said had made significant contributions to medical research and public health. Among the Jamaican scientists named by the minister were Professor Louis Grant, microbiologist (1913-1993); Dr Thomas Phillip Lecky (1904-1994); and Professor Gerald Lalor.
In attendance at the function were students from Wallingford All Age, in St Mary; Providence Primary in Linstead, St Catherine, and the Calabar High School in Kingston – the local institutions that Professor Prendergast attended.
