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木曜日, 05.02.2009

Pfizer 2009 Research Prize for Medicine

Honours go to 21 scientists

Zurich, 5 February 2009 – Endowed with a sum of 390,000 Swiss francs, the Pfizer Research Prize is one of the most important research awards for medicine in Switzerland. The award was conferred for the 18th time today and went to leading scientists in our country. The research work that won today’s award was carried out in Basel, Zurich, Lausanne, Berne and Geneva. The results are major milestones for medicine. Amongst other things, they provide answers to questions such as “Where am I? Manipulation of the physical awareness of self”; “Can intelligence be learned?” and - in the field of infectious diseases - showed highly promising approaches in the treatment of chronic hepatitis C.

 

Pfizer Research Prize – leading award for leading Swiss research

 

The Pfizer Research Prize for Medicine is awarded every year. It goes to young scientists who have made outstanding and pioneering contributions in the field of basic research or clinical research at Swiss research institutes or hospitals. The prize is endowed with a total of 390,000 Swiss francs distributed over six areas: cardiovascular disease, rheumatology and immunology, infectious diseases, neurosciences and diseases of the nervous system, urology and nephrology and, since 2008, also in the field of oncology. In each field the maximum number of research studies to be awarded a prize was reached: in each case, the award went to one basic research study and one clinical research study. Because of the excellent quality of the submitted research studies in the field of oncology, two clinical research studies actually received the prize in the this field this year. All research work that wins this prize is usually the result of extensive team work. In each case, the award goes to the scientists responsible for the ideas and performance of the studies.

Apart from the prize money, the winners of the award also received an additional award in the form of a bronze sculpture “The Researcher”, which was created by the well-known Swiss artist Kurt Laurenz Metzler in a limited edition especially for the Pfizer Research Prize.

The Pfizer Research Prize is awarded this year for the 18th time. Including today’s winners, a total of 201 scientists have so far won the award. Some of them are being touted as potential candidates for the Nobel Prize. The total prize money awarded so far amounts to more than 4.5 million Swiss francs.

 

Prize-winners from Basel ahead of Zurich, Lausanne, Berne and Geneva

 

The thirteen studies to win an award came from research institutions and clinics in Basel, Zurich, Lausanne, Berne and Geneva, some of them in cooperation with organizations in Germany, the USA and Norway. Of the 21 prize-winners, 9 are women and 12 are men. Seven of the prize-winners come from Basel (plus one researcher from a cooperation with Norway) followed by Zurich with five, Lausanne with four and Berne with three prize-winners. One prize-winner comes from Geneva.

 

Detailed information on the prize can be found on the homepage of the Pfizer Research Prize.