On November 15^th, 2021, Professor Dr. Prasit Watanapa, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, in the capacity of Vice President of the Prince Mahidol Award Foundation, Mr. Tanee Sangrat, Director-General of the Department of Information, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand, in the capacity of the Chairman of the Sub-Committee on Public Relations of the Prince Mahidol Award Foundation, and Professor Vicharn Panich, Chairman of the International Award Committee of the Prince Mahidol Award Foundation, held a joint press conference to announce the “30^th Prince Mahidol Award for 2021″ at the Prince Mahidol Memorial Room, 2^nd Floor, Syamindra Building, Siriraj Hospital.

This year, the Prince Mahidol Award in the field of Medicine is awarded to Associate Professor Katalin Karikó, Ph.D., Professor Drew Weissman, M.D., Ph.D., and Professor Pieter Cullis, Ph.D.

There were 86 nominations from 35 countries. The Scientific Advisory Committee carefully screened all candidates from 2019 – 2021 and subsequently submitted a shortlist of candidates to the International Award Committee, which made a recommendation to the Board of Trustees. H.R.H. Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn presided over the meeting of the Board of Trustees held on October 26^th, 2021, during which the final decision on the Prince Mahidol Award 2021 was made.

Prince Mahidol Award Laureate 2021

in the Field of Medicine

Katalin Karikó, Ph.D.
Senior Vice President,

BioNTech RNA Pharmaceuticals, Germany

Adjunct Associate Professor,

Perelman School of Medicine,
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA.

Hungary/USA

and

Drew Weissman, M.D., Ph.D.

Director of Vaccine Research,

Infectious Diseases Division
Professor, Department of Medicine,

Perelman School of Medicine,

University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA.
USA

Associate Professor Katalin Karikó received her Ph.D. from University of Szeged, Hungary.

Professor Drew Weissman received his M.D. and Ph.D. from Boston University, USA, before attending the training program with Dr. Anthony Fauci, who received the Prince Mahidol Award in the field of medicine in 2013, at the National Institutes of Health, Maryland, USA.

Assoc. Prof. Karikó and Prof. Weissman have been working side by side in developing mRNA technology and its applications in medicine. In 2006, they discovered that modification of nucleosides in mRNA could reduce cellular reactions toward foreign RNA. This was an important step in the utilization of mRNA technology. Foreign RNA is naturally recognized by cellular anti-viral machinery, which suppresses translation of mRNA and induces inflammation. These reactions were the main obstacle preventing the applications of mRNA in the prevention and treatment of diseases. This and subsequent studies of Assoc. Prof. Karikó and Prof. Weissman have led to the use of pseudouridine in mRNA production and the invention of the purification method for pseudouridine-containing mRNA. These are the critical basis for mRNA vaccine development. Prof. Karikó and Prof. Weissman have also played an important role in the rapid development of the COVID-19 mRNA vaccine.

The achievement of Assoc. Prof. Dr. Karikó and Prof. Weissman have led to the rapid availability of the COVID-19 mRNA vaccine, which has saved millions of lives and has become an important tool for controlling the COVID-19 pandemic around the world.

Pieter Cullis, Ph.D.

Professor, Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology,

University of British Columbia, Vancouver

Canada

Professor Pieter Cullis received his Ph.D. from the University of British Columbia and continued his research career there in lipid biochemistry.

Prof. Cullis is a pioneer in lipid nanoparticles, which have been used for various applications in medicine, such as delivering anticancer drugs to cancer tissues without causing too much toxicity in normal tissues. The most remarkable type of lipid nanoparticles developed by Prof. Cullis is lipid nanoparticles with ionizable cationic lipid. These lipid nanoparticles have no charge at neutral pH but become positively charged at low pH. Because of the absence of positive charge, the lipid nanoparticles are not toxic to cells. When they are taken up by cells into endosomes, the acidic pH in endosome turns the neutral lipid into positively charged lipid, which causes fusion to negatively charged cellular membrane. This membrane fusion delivers the content of the lipid nanoparticles into cytoplasm of the cells. This technique has been successfully employed to develop the delivery system of mRNA vaccines, which are being used to control the COVID-19 pandemic.

The achievement of Prof. Cullis not only made COVID-19 mRNA vaccines possible but has also created a way to safely deliver nucleic acid into cells, which opened up possibilities for various applications of nucleic acid technology for the prevention and treatment of many diseases in the future.

On November 12^th, 2021, Prof. Dr. Banchong Mahaisavariya, President of Mahidol University, and Prof. Dr. Prasit Watanapa, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, along with the executive members, welcomed the distinguished Research and Innovation Advisory Committee members to the “3^rd Siriraj Research and Innovation Advisory Committee Meeting” in 2021, organized by Siriraj Center of Research Excellence Management (SiCORE-M). This year, the meeting will be held as a virtual platform on November 12^th, 2021, and November 19^th, 2021

During the meeting, the advisory board received a brief update on the research progress and the strategic research and innovation management at the Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, since the last meeting in 2019. There was then a further discussion about the current limitation in the research ecosystem and funding management. In addition, the board provided advice on potential supporting mechanisms and opportunities with industrial partners. As always, this was our great honor and pleasure to learn from the advisory committee members. We have certainly gained numerous insights and new ideas that will assist us immensely in research transformation at our Faculty, which eventually may lead to a significant impact at the national level.

Name list of the Research and Innovation Advisory Committee members (RIAC) that attend this meeting:
1. Chan Soo Shin, M.D., Ph.D., from Seoul National University, College of Medicine, Republic of Korea
2. Sharon Anderson, M.D. from Oregon Health and Science University School of Medicine, USA
3. Joshua Burns, Ph.D. from the University of Sydney, Australia
4. W. K. Alfred Yung, M.D. from MD Anderson Cancer Center, USA
5. Prof. Vicharn Panich, M.D. from Prince Mahidol Award Foundation, Thailand
6. Somsak Chunharas, M.D. from National Health Foundation, Thailand
7. Prof. Jumras Limtrakul, M.D. from Vidyasirimedhi Institute of Science and Technology, Thailand
8. Prof. Rutjawate Taharnklaew, from Betagro company, Thailand
9. Dr. Somkiat Tangkitvanich, from Thailand Development Research Institute, Thailand
10. Chalermpon Punnotok, from CEO CT Asia Robotics company, Thailand

The Graduate School of Energy Science (GSES) of Kyoto University and the ASEAN University Network-Kyoto University Student Mobility Program toward Human Security Development co-organized the online seminar “Winter Seminar on Human Security Development and Energy Science” between January 11^th – 21^st, 2022.

This seminar is designed for undergraduate students to study the concept of Human Security Development (HSD) through Energy Science. The main theme of this seminar is energy science, which is an important issue for HSD. The participating students are expected to deepen their knowledge on HSD through energy science with the prospect of finding solutions to technological, socio-economic, and political issues, focusing on the Asian region. The seminar will offer lectures and class discussions as well as organized field trips and cultural events. Applicants are not limited to engineering, economics, or science – all fields are welcome.

For further information and application guidelines, please visit: https://www.energy.kyoto-u.ac.jp/en/winter-seminar/