Laureates of the Japan Prize
The 1988 (4th) Japan Prize
Preventative Medicine
The eradication of smallpox (Joint Award)
Dr. Donald A. Henderson (USA)
Dr. Isao Arita (Japan)
Dr. Frank Fenner (Australia)
| Dean, Johns Hopkins University, School of Hygiene and Public Health. Born in 1928 |
Director, Kumamoto National Hospital. Born in 1926 |
Professor Emeritus, Visiting Fellow, The John Curtin School of Medical Research, The Australian National University. Born in 1914 |
| Award Citation | ||
|---|---|---|
As the f i rst chief medical off icer of the WHO Wor ld Smal lpox Eradicat ion Off ice, Dr. Henderson dedicated his efforts to the development of group vaccination programs and contributed to its historic auccess through the worldwide eradication of smallpox. |
As the second chief medical off icer of the WHO World Smallpox Eradication Office, Dr. Arita established basic disease control knowledge and performed epidemiological analysis as well as surveys and research into vaccine quality improvement. |
Dr. Fenner, as the chairman of the WHO Smallpox Eradication Surveillance Committee, supervised implementation of the global smallpox eradication program and his consistent efforts greatly contributed to its success. |
Preventative Medicine
Discovery of the AIDS causing virus and development of
diagnostic methods (Joint Award)
Dr. Luc Montagnier (France)
Dr. Robert C. Gallo (USA)
| Chief, Department of Virus Tumours, Pasteur Institute Born in 1932 |
Chief, Laboratory of Tumour Cell Biology, National Institute of Health Born in 1937 |
| Award Citation | |
|---|---|
Leading the joint research staff at the Pasteur Institute in 1983, Dr. Montagnier became the first researcher in the world to discover HIV, the pathogen behind AIDS, thus launching the start of genuine HIV research. He has also developed practical blood serum diagnostic methods for the establishment of basic preventative countermeasures. |
Leading his own independent research group, Dr. Gallo established a method of culturing human T cells and succeeded in isolat ing the HIV virus, making a major contribution to analysis of its relationship with AIDS. He is also a pioneer in the research and development of AZT, the most effective AIDS treatment thus far, as well as in the effort to manifest a virus gene and realized and AIDS vaccine. |