Business day
HIS Majesty the King on Thursday presented the Prince Mahidol
Awards to two professors for their dedication to medicine and pubic
health during a ceremony held at the Ananta Samakhom Throne Hall in
Bangkok.
Professor Eugene Goldwasser, pictured right, of the Department of
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology University of Chicago was
honoured and awarded in the field of medicine while Professor
Harald zur Hausen, pictured left, of the German Cancer Research
Center in Heidelberg won the award in the field of public
health.
Professor Goldwasser played a major role in the purification and
characterization of erythropoietin, which has provided an effective
therapy for severe anemia in kidney failure and cancer patients
worldwide, and his work has proven to be beneficial to the health
and quality of life of mankind throughout the world.
Professor zur Hausen played a vital role in research on cervical
cancer, one of the major causes of death in women. Cervical cancer
is the third most frequently occurring cancer in women, and
afflicts an estimated 500,000 women each year.
His breakthrough discovery has had a major impact on the
understanding of the causes of cervical cancer, and has led to the
improvement of preventative measures and treatment as well as to
the development of vaccines against skin wart viruses.
The Prince Mahidol Award was established in on January 1, 1992, by
the Faculty of Medicine, Siriraj Hospital, in commemoration of the
centenary of the birth of Prince Mahidol of Songkla, the father of
His Majesty the King who has been recognised as the “Father of
Modern Medicine and Public Health“ in Thailand.
Prince Mahidol of Songkla, born January 1, 1892 to King
Chulalongkorn and Queen Savang Vadhana, graduated in Medical
Science from Harvard University in the United States. During the
first period of his residence at Harvard, he negotiated and
concluded, on behalf of the Thai government, an agreement with the
Rockefeller Foundation for assistance in medical and nursing
education in Thailand.
The Prince worked at Siriraj Medical School in Bangkok and
McCormick Hospital in Chiang Mai and greatly contributed to the
improvement of Thailand’s modern medicine and public health.
He once told his medical students that he did not wish them to be
only doctors, but also human beings, and that true success exists
not in learning but in its application for the benefit of mankind.
The Prince Father died of a severe kidney disease at the young age
of 37.
The awards are given each year to those whose works in the fields
of medicine and public health have been internationally recognized
as each award consists of a medal, a certificate, and a cash prize
of 50,000 US dollars.
The Prince Mahidol Award is administered by the Prince Mahidol
Award Foundation, with Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri
Sirindhorn as the chairperson.
ที่มา : Business
Day, Thailand’s only Business Newspaper in English วันที่ 26 มกราคม
2549
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