ÎçÒ¹¾ç³¡ Medical Science Prize
Photo: From the 27th ÎçÒ¹¾ç³¡ Medical Science Prize Award Ceremony (November 2022)
Established in 1996, the ÎçÒ¹¾ç³¡ Medical Science Prize is awarded to researchers who have achieved outstanding and creative research results that contribute to the development of medical sciences and life sciences worldwide. By its 28th year, 10 of the prize winners have gone on to win the Nobel Prize. Such an academic award system is unparalleled at any other private university.
The ÎçÒ¹¾ç³¡ Medical Science Prize is the primary project of the Mitsunori Sakaguchi Memorial ÎçÒ¹¾ç³¡ Medical Science Fund, established in 1995. This fund was created based on a donation of 5 billion yen from alumnus Mr. Mitsunori Sakaguchi to encourage medical research and its creative development, and to contribute to the advancement of medical sciences and life sciences globally. In addition to awarding the prize, the fund carries out projects such as international medical exchange, medical research grants, and memorial lectures. After graduating from the School of Medicine in 1940, Mr. Sakaguchi studied physiology under Professor Genichi Kato and served as a professor at Nihon University School of Medicine until 1959. At the age of 80, he sold land he had purchased at the request of an acquaintance during the post-war chaos and offered to donate the proceeds to the Juku. An additional donation of 2 billion yen followed in 1999, and the fund's activities are progressing steadily.
The first recipient, Dr. S. Prusiner, won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine the following year in 1997, leading the ÎçÒ¹¾ç³¡ Medical Science Prize to be known as a precursor to the Nobel Prize. The prize selection emphasizes the opening of new paradigms and concepts, as well as expectations for future development. In other words, the selection criteria focus not on current Nobel laureates, but on researchers expected to win the Nobel Prize in the future.
The screening and selection process begins with recommendations from prominent researchers and research institutions worldwide. Typically, the call for nominations starts in January or February. After the March deadline, several rounds of screening by internal and external expert committees take place. Around August, the selection committee determines the final candidates and recommends them to the Medical Science Fund Steering Committee. Based on the report from the Steering Committee, the President decides the winners in September. At the award ceremony, winners receive a prize of 10 million yen and a medal featuring the word "KEIO" and the staff entwined with a snake, the symbol of medicine, followed by a commemorative lecture. Incidentally, for the first selection, over 1,300 recommendation request letters were sent to 18 countries. By the deadline, 147 nominations were received from over a dozen countries, with 117 outstanding researchers nominated. After a performance survey and four rounds of screening, two candidates were unanimously recommended by the screening committee. The screening committee consists of a chairperson and 18 members selected from both inside and outside the university.
When Shibasaburo Kitasato returned from Germany and appealed to the government to establish an institute for infectious diseases, Yukichi Fukuzawa invested his private funds to assist in the establishment of the institute. He also provided land for the opening of Japan's first tuberculosis hospital. In gratitude for Fukuzawa's kindness, Kitasato was involved in the founding of the ÎçÒ¹¾ç³¡ School of Medicine and became its first dean. This history is likely connected to the ÎçÒ¹¾ç³¡ Medical Science Prize as well.
(Atsuko Ishiguro, Former Director of the Office of Communications and Public Relations)
*Affiliations and titles are as of the time this magazine was published.