Press Release

September 12, 2016
Keio University

Announcement of The Keio Medical Science Prize 2016
Keio University annually awards The Keio Medical Science Prize to recognize researchers who have made anoutstanding contribution to the fields of medicine or the life sciences. It is the only prize of its kind awarded by aJapanese university, and 6 laureates of this Prize have later won the Nobel Prize. The 21st Keio Medical Science Prize
is awarded to Prof. Svante Pääbo and Prof. Tasuku Honjo.

1. Laureates
Svante Pääbo, Ph.D., Drs. h.c.
Professor of Genetics and Evolutionary Biology
Director, MPI-EVA
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology“Molecular Elucidation of Human Origin”

Tasuku Honjo, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor, Graduate School of Medicine and Faculty of Medicine, Kyoto University“Identification of PD-1 and Establishment of Cancer Immunotherapy Principle by PD-1 Blockade”

2. Prize
Laureates receive a certificate of merit, medal, and a monetary award of 10 million yen. The award ceremony andcommemorative lectures are held at Keio University.

3. Award Ceremony and Events
The award ceremony and commemorative lectures will be held on December 1, 2016 at Keio University School ofMedicine, located on Keio University’s Shinanomachi Campus.

Award Ceremony and Commemorative Lectures
Date & Time: December 1, 2016, 14:00-17:30
Venue:
Kitasato Memorial Hall, Keio University School of Medicine, Shinanomachi Campus, Tokyo, Japan
Language:
English and JapaneseSimultaneous translation available (English-Japanese/Japanese-English)
Admission: Open to the public
For more details, please visit our website at: http://www.ms-fund.keio.ac.jp/prize
Attachments:(1) The Keio Medical Science Prize(2) The Keio Medical Science Prize Laureate 2016
Inquiries: Secretariat, Keio University Medical Science Fund
TEL: +81-3-5363-3609
URL: http://www.ms-fund.keio.ac.jp/prize/
FAX: +81-3-5363-3215
E-mail: k-msf@adst.keio.ac.jp
Publisher: Office of General Affairs, Keio University School of Medicine
TEL: +81-3-5363-3611
URL: http://www.med.keio.ac.jp/en/
FAX: +81-3-5363-3612
E-mail: med-koho@adst.keio.ac.jp
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Attachment (1)The Keio Medical Science Prize
1. BackgroundIn the fall of 1994, Dr. Mitsunada Sakaguchi, a 1940 alumnus of the School of Medicine, donated five billion yen to Keio
University with the expressed desire that it be used to commend outstanding researchers, to encourage medical researchand its creative progress at Keio through grants, and to promote worldwide medical advances. In keeping with Dr.
Sakaguchi's commitment, Keio launched The Keio University Medical Science Fund on April 1, 1995. Dr. Sakaguchi
made an additional donation of two billion yen in July 1999, bringing the fund to a total of seven billion yen.
2. Initiatives
 The Keio Medical Science Prize Grants for International Activities in Medicine and the Life Sciences Medical School Faculty and Alumni Grants
 Research Grants for Medicine and the Life Sciences Sakaguchi Laboratory
3. Objective
The Keio Medical Science Prize gives recognition to the outstanding and creative achievements of researchers in thefields of medicine and the life sciences, in particular those contributing to scientific developments in medicine. It aims topromote worldwide advances in medicine and the life sciences, encourage the expansion of researcher networks
throughout the world, and contribute to the well-being of humankind.
4. Prize
Laureates receive a certificate of merit, medal, and a monetary award of 10 million yen. The award ceremony andcommemorative lectures are held at Keio University.
5. Nomination and Selection
The Keio Medical Science Prize is an international award, and each year academics and researchers from around theworld are invited to nominate a candidate. Laureates are then selected through a rigorous review process by about ninety
Japanese academics from both within and outside of Keio University.
6. 2015 Prize Laureates
Jeffrey I. Gordon
Human gut microbiome and its impact on health and disease
Yoshinori Ohsumi
Elucidation of molecular mechanism of autophagy
7. Nobel Prize Winning Laureates
2010
Jules A. Hoffmann (The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2011)
Discovery of Insect-innate Immune System and Toll Receptors
2006
Thomas A. Steitz (The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2009)
Structural Basis of Large Ribosomal Subunit Function and Drug Development
2004
Roger Y. Tsien (The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2008)
Visualization and Control of Molecules within Living Cells
2002
Barry J. Marshall (The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2005)
Establishment of Diagnostic Techniques and Treatment for Helicobacter Pylori
1999
Elizabeth Helen Blackburn (The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2009)
Telomeres and Telomerase
1996
Stanley B. Prusiner (The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1997)
Discovery of Prions and Prion Diseases

2/4Attachment (2a)The Keio Medical Science Prize 2016 Laureate“Molecular Elucidation of Human Origin”
Svante Pääbo, Ph.D., Drs. h.c.
Professor of Genetics and Evolutionary Biology
Director, MPI-EVA
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
A scientific discipline that deals with the origins of human beings dates back to 1856 when a skull of "Neanderthalman" was discovered. Neanderthals disappeared in Europe 30,000 years ago. After 30 years of passionate pursuit that wasboth creative and innovative, Professor Pääbo succeeded in obtaining the whole genome sequence of the Neanderthals
from bone remains using extremely sensitive methods to extract ancient DNA. Detailed analysis of the highly accurate
whole genome sequence uncovered that Neanderthals contributed ~2% of the genomic DNA of present-day humans byinterbreeding with humans (Homo sapiens) when they came out of Africa.
Comparison of Neanderthal and present-day human genomes has identified a number of genomic regions that may havebeen affected by positive selection in ancestral modern humans, including genes involved in metabolism and in cognitivefunction.
Professor Pääbo also successfully determined the whole genome sequence of a presumably hominin-derived finger
bone discovered in a cave in Denisova in Russia. The genomic sequence represented a hitherto unknown type of hominin
DNA, and the novel type of hominin is now referred to as Denisovan. Professor Pääbo's pioneering work in paleogenetics
represents a truly monumental achievement in the biomedical sciences and beyond, in that Professor Pääbo has shedentirely new light on one of the most captivating topics for scholars throughout the ages.
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Born in Stockholm, Sweden
School of Interpreters, Swedish Defense ForcesStudies at the Faculty of Humanities, University of Uppsala, including History of Science,
Egyptology, and Russian
Medical studies at the University of Uppsala, Sweden
Part time research and teaching at the Department of Cell Biology, Uppsala, and the Roche Institutefor Molecular Biology, Nutley, NJ, USA
Full time research as Ph.D. student at the Department of Cell Research, University of UppsalaAwarded Ph.D. degree at University of Uppsala, Sweden
Postdoctoral research at the Institute for Molecular Biology II, University of Zürich, SwitzerlandShort period of work at Imperial Cancer Research Fund, London, UK
Postdoctoral research at the Department of Biochemistry, University of California, Berkeley, USADocent (habilitation) in Medical Genetics, University of Uppsala, Sweden
Full Professor (C4) of General Biology, University of Munich, Germany
Director, Max-Planck-Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
Honorary Professor of Genetics and Evolutionary Biology, University of Leipzig, Germany
Guest Professor of Comparative Genomics, University of Uppsala, Sweden
Honorary Research Fellow, Natural History Museum, London, UK

Comments from Prof. Pääbo
I am greatly honored to receive the The Keio Medical Science Prize. For more than 30 years I have worked on
the retrieval of DNA from long dead organisms. It has now become possible to go back in time and study thegenomes of extinct hominins, past human populations, ancient pathogens and extinct animals. Many talented
collaborators both in my lab and elsewhere have helped make this dream come true. I thank them all.
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Attachment (2b)The Keio Medical Science Prize 2016 Laureate“Identification of PD-1 and Establishment of Cancer Immunotherapy Principle by PD-1 Blockade”
Tasuku Honjo, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor, Graduate School of Medicine and Faculty of Medicine Kyoto University
In 1992, Dr. Tasuku Honjo first discovered PD-1 as an inducible gene on activated T-lymphocytes. Then hedemonstrated that PD-1-deficient mice develop autoimmune diseases and that PD-1 inhibits T cell activation by binding
to ligands of PD-1. Thus, he revealed that PD-1 is a negative regulator of immune responses. Furthermore, Dr. Honjo andhis co-workers showed that anti-PD-1 and anti-PD-L1 antibodies inhibit tumor growth in mice, thus he discovered that
inhibition of the immune-regulatory system is effective for anti-cancer immunotherapy. Based on his discovery, clinical
trials of the human anti-PD-1 antibody nivolumab have been performed, and it has been actually proven that PD-1
blockade is effective for a number of human tumors including melanoma and lung cancer. As a result of this trial,
nivolumab has been approved and introduced to the market. The blockade of the PD-1 signal, in addition to the CTLA-4
blockade, is currently referred to as “immune checkpoint therapy”. Dr. Honjo brought a paradigm shift in the field ofcancer immunotherapy. He accomplished translational research from basic to clinical applications, and his discovery of
the PD-1/PD-L1 system makes him well deserving of The Keio Medical Science Prize.
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Medical Course, Faculty of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
M.D. (Kyoto University)
Graduate School (Medical Chemistry), Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
Ph.D. (Kyoto University)
Fellow of Carnegie Institution of Washington, Department of Embryology, Baltimore, Maryland
Visiting Fellow and Associate, Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, National Institute of Child Healthand Human Development, NIH, Bethesda, MarylandAssistant Professor, Department of Physiological Chemistry and Nutrition, Faculty of Medicine,
University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
Professor, Department of Genetics, School of Medicine, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan
Professor, Department of Medical Chemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
Director, Center for Molecular Biology and Genetics, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
Dean, Faculty of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, JapanScience Adviser, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT)
Dean, Faculty of Medicine, Kyoto University
Director, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Research Center for Science Systems, Tokyo,Japan
Professor, Department of Immunology and Genomic Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto
University, Kyoto, Japan
Council Member, Science Council of Japan, Tokyo, Japan
Executive Member, Council for Science and Technology Policy, Cabinet Office, Tokyo, Japan
Chairman, Board of Directors, Shizuoka Prefectural University Corporation, Shizuoka, Japan
President, Foundation for Biomedical Research and Innovation, Kobe, Japan

Comments from Prof. Honjo
It is my great honor to receive The Keio Medical Science Prize 2016, which has been awarded to many excellent
medical scientists. I encountered the PD-1 molecule and found that PD-1 serves as a brake in the immune system.
Based on the findings in animal models, the PD-1 blockade cancer therapy became available 22 years after its discovery.
I deeply appreciate the active investment in basic research in Japan about 20 years ago, which made this innovative
application possible.

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