The 2nd Annual Ladies' Home Journal Health Breakthrough Awards

The 2nd Annual Ladies' Home Journal Health Breakthrough Awards

Day after day, year after year, doctors and researchers toil, often in obscurity, seeking new ways to diagnose and treat diseases and injuries -- then do the exacting work of proving scientifically that their new theories and techniques actually make a difference.

Last year Ladies' Home Journal launched our annual Health Breakthrough Awards to honor these outstanding individuals, whose discoveries have enabled us to have longer, healthier lives. We also wanted to acknowledge our own long and rich history of health advocacy journalism, which began more than 100 years ago when the magazine helped spur the formation of the Food and Drug Administration and led the fight against bogus medications.

This year's winners were chosen through an exhaustive nationwide search of more than 80 medical organizations, teaching hospitals, foundations, and government agencies. From fashioning a more sophisticated prosthetic arm that rivals the real thing to developing an improved way to give radiation therapy, from discovering a new source of potentially lifesaving stem cells to charting early ways to detect cancer, each of our awardees has transformed his or her field -- and our lives -- as a result.

In addition, we are proud to announce the winner of the second Marianne J. Legato Gender-Specific Medicine Award, named in honor of our medical adviser, who has pioneered this field. It is awarded to an individual whose work has furthered our understanding of the different health needs of women and men.