Press Release
FOR RELEASE ON September 14 AT 3 p.m. PDT
September 15 AT 7 a.m. JST
September 13, 2023
Keio University

Announcement of The Keio Medical Science Prize 2023
Keio University, Japan’s oldest private university located in Tokyo, annually awards The Keio Medical Science
Prize to recognize researchers who have made an outstanding contribution to the fields of medicine or the life
sciences. It is the only prize of its kind awarded by a Japanese university, and 9 laureates of this prize have later
won the Nobel Prize. The 28th Keio Medical Science Prize is awarded to Napoleone Ferrara, M.D., fromUniversity of California San Diego, and Kazutoshi Mori, Ph.D., from Kyoto University.

1. Laureates
Napoleone Ferrara, M.D.

Kazutoshi Mori, Ph.D.

Distinguished Professorof Pathology
Adjunct Professor ofOphthalmology andPharmacology
University of California
San Diego
USAProfessor
Department ofBiophysics
Graduate School ofScienceKyoto UniversityJapan“Molecular Basis of Angiogenesis andits Application”“Molecular Mechanism of the Unfolded
Protein Response”

2. Award Events

The award ceremony and commemorative lectures will be held on November 9, 2023 at the Keio University School ofMedicine, located on Keio University’s Shinanomachi Campus. The events will be live streamed globally online.
Award Ceremony and Commemorative Lectures
Date & Time: Thursday, November 9, 2023, 14:00-17:30
Venue:
Kitasato Memorial Hall, Keio University School of Medicine, Shinanomachi Campus, Tokyo, Japan
Language:
English (Simultaneous translation available)
Admission: Open to the public with online access. On-site participation is limited.
For more information, please visit the Keio Medical Science Prize website:
https://www.ms-fund.keio.ac.jp/en/prize/

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The Keio Medical Science Prize 2023 Laureate“Molecular Basis of Angiogenesis and its Application”
Napoleone Ferrara, M.D.

Distinguished Professor of Pathology
Adjunct Professor of Ophthalmology and Pharmacology
University of California San Diego, USA
Blood vessels form a pipeline that delivers oxygen and nutrients to all organs in our bodies. However, how the vascular
network spreads during development was unclear. Dr. Napoleone Ferrara first succeeded in explaining the molecular basisof this fundamental process through the discovery of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF), today recognized as
the central player in the regulation of blood vessel growth (angiogenesis). Dr. Ferrara developed a neutralizing antibody
against VEGF and found that it stops angiogenesis in several pathological conditions, including cancer and eye diseases.
At present, VEGF blockers are routinely used as a therapeutic option for various human cancers and represent the first
choice for treating age-related macular degeneration, the major cause of adult blindness. The fundamental knowledge
originating from his basic research pioneered a number of recent advances in medical science. In view of these seminal
contributions to the field of angiogenesis, Dr. Ferrara is awarded with the Keio Medical Science Prize.
Education
1975-1981Positions
1983-1985
1985-1986
1986-1988
1988-1993
1993-1997
1997-2002
2002-20122013-Present
2013-Present
2015-Present
2020-Present

M.D. University of Catania Medical School, Catania, Italy
Postdoctoral Fellow, Reproductive Endocrinology Center, University of California, San Francisco,USAIntern, Dept. of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Oregon Health Sciences University
Postdoctoral Fellow, Cancer Research Institute, University of California, San Francisco
Scientist, Dept. of Cardiovascular Research, Genentech, Inc.
Senior Scientist, Dept. of Cardiovascular Research, Genentech, Inc.
Staff Scientist, Dept. of Molecular Oncology, Genentech, Inc.
Genentech Fellow, Genentech, Inc.
Distinguished Professor of Pathology, University of California, San Diego
Adjunct Professor of Ophthalmology, University of California, San Diego
Adjunct Professor of Pharmacology, University of California, San Diego
Hildyard Endowed Chair in Eye Disease, University of California, San Diego

Major Honors/Awards
2006 General Motors Cancer Research Award
2010 Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award
2013 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences
2014 Antonio Champalimaud Vision Award
2014 Canada Gairdner International Award
Comment from Napoleone Ferrara, M.D.
It is a great honor to be an awardee of the 2023 Keio Medical Science Prize, which I am delighted to accept on behalf ofmy colleagues and collaborators. I was fortunate to discover over thirty years ago vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF). Studying the VEGF pathway led me to a journey of scientific discovery and clinical translation that resulted inadvances in cancer therapy and unprecedented vision preservation in patients with age-related macular degeneration andother blinding disorders.

2/5The Keio Medical Science Prize 2023 Laureate“Molecular Mechanism of the Unfolded Protein Response”
Kazutoshi Mori, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Biophysics, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Japan
Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress response (unfolded protein response) is a homeostatic mechanism in whichmolecular chaperones are transcriptionally activated when secretory and membrane proteins with abnormalities ofhigher-order structure accumulate in the ER. Dr. Kazutoshi Mori identified IRE1, an ER stress sensor molecule, andHAC1, a transcription factor that undergoes IRE1-dependent splicing, in budding yeast. In mammals, he showed that
the IRE1-HAC1 pathway is conserved as the IRE1-XBP1 pathway, and that ATF6 additionally functions as both asensor and a transcription factor. He has clarified the physiological significance of the ATF6 pathway during early
development. With respect to ER-associated degradation, XBP1 transcriptionally induces factors participating in theubiquitin-proteasome system and mannosidases such as EDEM2 are responsible for the mannose pruning that occurs
in the conformationally abnormal glycoproteins. Dr. Mori's pioneering research has clarified the molecularmechanisms of the ER stress response, and the ripple effects are now being spread in diabetes, neurodegenerative
disorders and cardiac diseases.
Education
1977
1977
1978
1981
1981-1983
1983-1985
1987

Graduated from Okayama Prefectural Kurashiki-Seiryo High School
Entered the Faculty of Engineering, Kyoto University
Moved to the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kyoto University
Graduated from the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kyoto University
Master course student of the Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kyoto University
Doctoral course student of the Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kyoto University
Received Ph.D. from Kyoto University

Professional Appointments
1985-1989
Instructor, Gifu Pharmaceutical University, Gifu, Japan
1989-1993
Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, USA(supervised by Drs. M.-J. Gething and J. Sambrook)
1993-1996
Deputy Research Manager, HSP Research Institute, Kyoto, Japan
1996-1999
Research Manager, HSP Research Institute, Kyoto, Japan
1999-2003
Associate Professor, Graduate School of Biostudies, Kyoto University, Japan
2003-present Professor, Department of Biophysics, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Japan
Major Honors/Awards
2009
Canada Gairdner International Award
2014
Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award
2014
Shaw Prize in Life Science and Medicine
2016
Imperial Prize and Japan Academy Prize20172018 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences
Comment from Kazutoshi Mori, Ph.D.
It is my great pleasure and honor to receive Keio Medical Science Prize embracing prestigious recipients. Retrospectively,
I decided to go to USA simply to learn molecular biology in 1989 when I was 30 years old, and met the Unfolded Protein
Response (UPR) at Dallas, Texas. I was fascinated by its novelty as an intracellular signaling, and since then I worked
hard to clarify its molecular mechanism and physiological importance. As a result, together with contributions from otherresearchers, the UPR has grown up as an important field, which is also involved in the development and progression invarious diseases. This receipt further encourages me to make every effort for research.
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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 toKeio University with the expressed desire that it be used to commend outstanding researchers, to encourage medical
research and its creative progress at Keio through grants, and to promote worldwide medical advances. In keepingwith 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 Keio Medical Science Rising Star Award 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 to promote 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 events and thecommemorative 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.
Selection Committee 2023
Haruhiko Siomi
Chairperson of the CommitteeProfessor, Department of Molecular Biology, Keio University School of Medicine
Kiyokazu Agata
Director General, National Institute for Basic Biology
Shizuo Akira
Director, Center for Advanced Modalities and Drug Delivery System, OsakaUniversity
Masayuki Amagai
Vice-President, Keio University
Professor, Department of Dermatology, Keio University School of Medicine
Makoto Arita
Professor, Division of Physiological Chemistry and Metabolism, Keio University Faculty ofPharmacy
Kenya Honda
Professor, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Keio University School ofMedicine
Yae Kanai
Professor, Department of Pathology, Keio University School of Medicine
Yoshiaki Kubota
Professor, Department of Anatomy, Keio University School of Medicine
Hiroaki Mitsuya
Director General, National Center for Global Health and Medicine Research Institute
Ryozo Nagai
President, Jichi Medical University
Jin Nakahara
Professor, Department of Internal Medicine (Neurology), Keio University School ofMedicine
Emi Nishimura
Professor, Division of Aging and Regeneration, The Institute of Medical Science,
The University of Tokyo
Tetsuo Noda
Representative Director, Executive Director, and Institute Director, Japanese Foundation forCancer Research
Yoshiko Takahashi
Professor, Department of Zoology, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University
Kenji Tanaka
Professor, Division of Brain Sciences, Institute for Advanced Medical Research,
Keio University School of Medicine
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Masashi Yanagisawa Director, International Institute for Integrative Sleep Medicine (WPI-IIIS),
University of Tsukuba
Motoko Yanagita Professor, Department of Nephrology, Graduate School of Medicine,
Kyoto University
6. Nobel Prize Winners from the Keio Medical Science Prize Laureates
1996
Stanley B. Prusiner (The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1997)
Discovery of Prions and Prion Diseases
1999
Elizabeth Helen Blackburn (The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2009)
Telomeres and Telomerase
2002
Barry J. Marshall (The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2005)
Establishment of Diagnostic Techniques and Treatment for Helicobacter Pylori
2004
Roger Y. Tsien (The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2008)
Visualization and Control of Molecules within Living Cells
2006
Thomas A. Steitz (The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2009)
Structural Basis of Large Ribosomal Subunit Function and Drug Development
2010
Jules A. Hoffmann (The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2011)
Discovery of Insect-innate Immune System and Toll Receptors
2015
Yoshinori Ohsumi (The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2016)
Discoveries of Mechanisms for Autophagy
2016
Tasuku Honjo (The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2018)
Identification of PD-1 and Establishment of Cancer Immunotherapy Principle by PD-1 Blockade
2016
Svante Pääbo (The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2022)
Molecular Elucidation of Human Origin
Contact:
Office of the Keio University Medical Science Fund
TEL: +81-3-5363-3609 FAX: +81-3-5363-3215 k-msf@adst.keio.ac.jp https://www.ms-fund.keio.ac.jp/en/prize/
Publisher:
Office of General Affairs, Keio University School of Medicine
TEL: +81-3-5363-3611 FAX: +81-3-5363-3612 med-koho@adst.keio.ac.jp https://www.med.keio.ac.jp/en/

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