The three winners of the

Thailand has just released a list of scientists and experts who are awarded the Prince Mahidol Award (King Mahidol Award) 2007. It is German medical professor Axel Ulrich, Australian professor Basil Stuart Hetzel and advancing. Sanduk Ruit - Nepalese.

The award was selected by a panel of judges including many scientists and community health experts from around the world from 69 candidates from 35 countries.

Founded in 1992 to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of the Thai Crown - Prince Mahidol in Songkla - the Prince Mahidol Award, managed by the organization King Huang Mahidol to honor these individuals and organizations. The world has made significant contributions in two areas of medicine and public health.

The awards ceremony for 2007 will be held in Thailand's royal palace on January 30, 2008, chaired by Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, and the Thai king and queen will personally award the houses. science.Each award includes a medal, a certificate and 1.5 million baht (about $ 48,000).

Leading the research on the molecular mechanism of cancer, Professor Axel Ulrich is also a pioneer in the way " cancer therapy follows the target method " that the world is applying.

His treatment focused on killing cancer cells, doing little harm to normal cells and reducing the side effects of cancer treatment. During the study, Professor Ulrich also discovered a mutant breast cancer gene called HER2 / c-erbB2 and found that patients with this type of cancer usually developed faster than usual.

His laboratory has developed a number of monoclonal antibodies against HER2, one of which was later developed into Herceptin medicine for metastatic breast cancer. Axel Urich's method then became a model for the treatment of other cancers in the world. Currently, he is the director of molecular biology department at Max Planck Biochemistry Institute in Germany.

Meanwhile, Professor Basil Stuart Hetzel is known for his research on the side effects of iodine deficiency on human health, especially brain development. From 1976 - 1985, Hetzel and his colleagues demonstrated a severe deficiency of iode in pregnant mothers.

Professor Basin Stuart Hetzel on the picture of a book of his book (Photo: TTO)

causing a baby with a poor thyroid to develop from the womb or just born, which can lead to cretinism and mental retardation. The IQ of these children is less than that of children without iode deficiency by about 13.5 points.

Hetzel is the honorary chairman of the International Council for the Control of Disorders caused by iode deficiency in Australia. His organization has advocated the use of iodized salt in 100 countries, including Thailand.

In Nepal, Dr. Sanduk Ruit is the director of the Tilganga Eye Center in Kathmandu. It was he who introduced and then promoted the application of suture-less operation technique, allowing eye surgery for many patients in more remote areas.

He also helped build in Nepal a high-quality contact lenses manufacturing enterprise that is 50 times cheaper than imported ones.

Not only serving in Nepal, Dr. Ruit also put his " mobile eye care " to many other poor countries to help restore vision to millions of cataract patients by an economical and effective method. and safe.

Professor Axel Ulrich

Dr. Sanduk Ruit

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