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2025 Double Helix Medals dinner raises over $7 million

Marilyn Simons, Bob Langer, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, and Bruce Stillman in formal attire pose together at a 黑料吃瓜资源 event, standing in front of a logo backdrop.
黑料吃瓜资源 Chair Marilyn Simons, 2025 Double Helix Medal recipients Dr. Robert Langer, Chris Evert, and Martina Navratilova, and CSHL President & CEO Bruce Stillman. Image: Patrick McMullan Company

黑料吃瓜资源 (CSHL) returned to New York City鈥檚 American Museum of Natural History on November 19, 2025, for the 20th annual Double Helix Medals dinner. CBS journalist Lesley Stahl emceed the event, which raised over $7 million for CSHL鈥檚 biological research and education programs. This year鈥檚 gala honored tennis legends-turned-cancer advocates Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova and biotechnology pioneer Dr. Robert Langer.

Evert and Navratilova are two of the most decorated tennis players in sports history. Both overcame cancer diagnoses with the same grit and determination that earned them each 18 Grand Slam singles titles. Off the court, they have emerged as vocal advocates for cancer research, prevention, and early detection.

鈥淲e both realize we have such an opportunity to spread the good word,鈥 Navratilova said. 鈥淚t makes you feel good when people say you made a difference. If you feel something, do something. Don鈥檛 sit on it. Chris is the living example of that.鈥

鈥淚f I hadn鈥檛 had genetic testing, I wouldn鈥檛 be here,鈥 said Evert. 鈥淒on鈥檛 think you鈥檙e a wimp if you go to the doctor and get checked out.鈥

Dr. Robert Langer is one of only nine MIT Institute Professors and the most cited engineer in history. His research, alongside Dr. Judah Folkman, isolated the first angiogenesis inhibitors, leading to new treatments for cancer and blindness. Langer created the first nanoparticles and microparticles for delivering large molecules, including nucleic acids. His work helped establish the field of tissue engineering, enabling the development of artificial skin for burn victims, among other advances.

鈥淚鈥檓 proudest of my students,鈥 Langer says. 鈥淭hey鈥檝e done amazing things and keep training the next generations. I hope I鈥檓 remembered as a person who challenged conventional wisdom in science and engineering and made discoveries and inventions that ended up changing the world.鈥

The 2025 Double Helix Medals dinner was chaired by Mrs. Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe, Ms. Jamie Nicholls and Mr. O. Francis Biondi, Mr. and Mrs. David Boies, Ms. Barbara Amonson and Dr. Vincent Della Pietra, Drs. Pamela Hurst-Della Pietra and Stephen Della Pietra, Mr. and Mrs. John M. Desmarais, Mr. and Mrs. Jeffrey E. Kelter, Dr. and Mrs. Tomislav Kundic, Mr. and Mrs. Robert D. Lindsay, Ms. Ivana Stolnik-Lourie and Dr. Robert W. Lourie, Dr. Marcia Kramer Mayer, Dr. and Mrs. Howard L. Morgan, Ms. Judy Gibbons and Dr. Francesco Scattone, Dr. and Mrs. Phillip A. Sharp, and Mr. and Mrs. Paul J. Taubman.

Since 2006, the Double Helix Medals dinner has raised over $80 million to support CSHL鈥檚 research and education programs.

Written by: Communications Department | [email protected] | 516-367-8455

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