Gotham founds cancer research prize

Two hedge fund managers have joined forces with scientists to launch a $1 million prize for cancer research. Joel Greenblatt and Robert Goldstein of Gotham Capital in New York have teamed up with Dr. Gary Curhan of Harvard Medical School to create the Gotham Prize for Cancer Research. The award, to be given annually, will go to researchers with groundbreaking ideas in the prevention, etiology, diagnosis and treatment of cancer. Additional support came from Ephi Gildor of Axiom Investment Advisors and the Ira Sohn Conference Foundation, which was named after a Wall Street trader who died of cancer. The foundation also awards an annual $250,000 prize in pediatric oncology. Mr. Goldstein was inspired to create the Gotham Prize after his mother, Hope Goldstein, died from ovarian cancer. This year’s Gotham Prize winners will be announced in February 2008.