Press Release
FOR RELEASE ON September 14 AT 6 p.m. EDT
September 15 AT 7 a.m. JST
September 13, 2021
Keio University

Announcement of The Keio Medical Science Prize 2021
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 8 laureates of this prize have later won the Nobel Prize.
The 26th Keio Medical Science Prize is awarded to Katalin Karikó, Ph.D., from Perelman School of Medicine,
University of Pennsylvania, and Osamu Nureki, Ph.D., from Graduate School of Science, the University of Tokyo.

1. Laureates
Katalin Karikó, Ph.D.

Osamu Nureki, Ph.D.
Professor,
Graduate School ofScience,
The University ofTokyo

Senior Vice President,
BioNTech SE, Mainz,
Germany
Adjunct Professor,
Perelman School ofMedicine, Universityof Pennsylvania,
Philadelphia, USA“Discovery of Specific RNA Modification
Leading to mRNA Vaccine Development”“Structural Biology of Key Molecules in Life”

2. Award Events・Release of prize laureates' introduction video・Keio Medical Science Prize Lecture (Web Live Streaming)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
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 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 theKeio Medical Science Lectures are held online this year.
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. 2020 Prize Laureates
Aviv Regev, Ph.D., Executive Vice President, Genentech Research and Early Development
Single Cell Analysis Technology to Understand the Complexity of Life
Atsushi Miyawaki, M.D., Ph.D., Laboratory Head, RIKEN Center for Brain Science, RIKEN Center for Advanced
Photonics
Unveiling Life Science through Innovative Molecular Imaging
7. Nobel Prize Winning Laureates
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
2015
Yoshinori Ohsumi (The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2016)
Discoveries of Mechanisms for Autophagy
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
1999Elizabeth 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

2/5The Keio Medical Science Prize 2021 Laureate“Discovery of Specific RNA Modification Leading to mRNA Vaccine Development”
Katalin Karikó, Ph.D.

Senior Vice President, BioNTech SE, Mainz, Germany
Adjunct Professor, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA
Messenger RNA (mRNA) molecules convey genetic information from DNA to the ribosome, where they specify theamino acid sequence of the protein products of gene expression. In 1989, Katalin Karikó, Ph.D. started working on
mRNA with the conviction that mRNA could be used to instruct cells to make their own medicines. However, as itturned out, human immune cells exposed to synthesized mRNA generated a strong immune response accompanied bysecretion of inflammatory molecules. After many years of trial and error, Dr. Karikó found that the incorporation of amodified nucleoside, known as pseudouridine, into the mRNA ablated the immune response. In addition, themodification directed the cellular synthesis of quantities of protein that were several times larger than those producedby the conventional, unmodified mRNA. These findings of Dr. Karikó regarding modified mRNA went on to pave theway to the stunningly successful COVID-19 vaccines that have been developed by pharmaceutical companies. Now thatmRNA vaccine technology has been proven, it is expected to transform other vaccines and therapeutic strategies totackle not only infectious diseases such as HIV, influenza, and malaria, but also cancer and heart failure. Therefore, herachievement is undoubtedly worthy of the Keio Medical Science Prize.
Education
1982
1978

PhD University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary (Biochemistry)
BS University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary (Biology)

Positions2021-present
2019-present
2013-20192009-2021
1995-2009
1989-1995
1988-1989
1985-1988
1982-1985

Adjunct Professor, Department of Neurosurgery, University of Pennsylvania
Senior Vice President, BioNTech SE
Vice President, BioNTech RNA Pharmaceuticals
Adjunct Associate Professor, Department of Neurosurgery, University of Pennsylvania
Senior Research Investigator, Department of Neurosurgery, University of Pennsylvania
Research Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania
Department of Pathology, USUHS, Bethesda, MD, USA
Department of Biochemistry, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, US
Biological Research Center, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Szeged, Hungary

Major Honors/Awards
2021
Rosenstiel Award for Distinguished Work in Medical Science – Brandeis University, USA
2021
Reichstein Medal – Swiss Academy of Pharmaceutical Sciences
2021
Vilcek Prize for Excellence in Biotechnology – The Vilcek Foundation, NYC, USA
2021
Princess Asturias Award – Princess Asturias Foundation, Spain
2021
Semmelweis Award – Hungarian Government
2021
Horwitz Prize – Columbia University, USA
Comment from Katalin Karikó, Ph.D.
I’m humbled and honored to receive the Keio Medical Science Prize in recognition of my contribution toidentifying the specific RNA modification that helped develop the mRNA vaccines in the fight against COVID19. As a result of the modification, mRNA therapies can be safely delivered to patients to make more effective
vaccines against other infectious diseases or used for protein replacement therapies and gene editing to treat
conditions with unmet medical needs.
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The Keio Medical Science Prize 2021 Laureate“Structural Biology of Key Molecules in Life”
Osamu Nureki, Ph.D.
Professor,Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo
Structural biology is an important area of molecular biology and biochemistry concerned with the molecularstructure of macromolecules, especially proteins and nucleotides. Osamu Nureki, Ph.D. as a pioneer in the fieldof structural biology, has determined the three-dimensional structures of key molecules in life including thoseof RNA-protein complexes such as tRNA modification enzymes, G protein-coupled receptors and membranetransporters. His achievement has proved that structural biology is not just a method of learning about thestructures of molecules, but also a strong means of investigating their biological functions and identifying
unknown life phenomena. Recently, he determined the structure of CRISPR-Cas9 for the first time, paving theway to “genome editing-based drug discovery”. Fundamental knowledge originating from his research is now
the basis underlying recent advances in biology and medical science. Taking all these above-mentioned facts
into consideration, Dr. Nureki deserves to win the Keio Medical Science Prize.
Education
1993
Graduated from Department of Biophysics and Biochemistry, Graduate School of Science, TheUniversity of Tokyo (Doctor of Science)
1988-93 Master and PhD student of Department of Biophysics and Biochemistry, Graduate School of Science,
The University of Tokyo
1984-88 Undergraduate of Faculty of Science, The University of Tokyo
Positions
2014
2010
2008
2003
2002
1995
1994
1993

Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo
Professor, Department of Biophysics and Biochemistry, Graduate School of Science,
The University of Tokyo
Professor, Department of Basic Medical Sciences, The Institute of Medical Science,
The University of Tokyo
Professor, Department of Biological Information, Graduate School of Biosciences andBiotechnology, Tokyo Institute of TechnologyAssociate Professor at Department of Biophysics and Biochemistry, Graduate School of Science,
The University of Tokyo
Assistant Professor, Department of Biophysics and Biochemistry, Graduate School of Science,
The University of Tokyo
Special Researcher at Crystallography Laboratory, RIKEN
Postdoctoral Fellow, Protein Engineering Research Institute (PERI)

Major Honors/Awards
2018
Medal with Purple Ribbon from Japanese Government
2014
Takeda Medical Prize of Takeda Science Foundation
2014
Uehara Prize of Uehara Memorial Foundation
2011
Research Award of The Crystallographic Society of Japan
2011
Inoue Prize for Science, Inoue Foundation for Science
2008
JSPS Prize, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
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Comment from Osamu Nureki, Ph.D.
I was born at Keio University Hospital. During my childhood, I was interested in becoming a doctor and devoured
Hideyo Noguchi biographies and Osamu Tezuka’s medical comic Black Jack. In high school, I struggled with finding
my purpose and concluded that a life helping others would be a life worth living. I could have studied at the Facultyof Medicine at the University of Tokyo, but I was afraid of diseases and joined the School of Science, believing thatI could contribute to medicine through basic research. As a Ph.D. student, I realized that remodeling and controlling
proteins as machines made of atoms would allow us to significantly improve medical science. Currently, mylaboratory is focused on the structural biology of non-coding RNA and membrane proteins, which are the building
blocks of life and higher eukaryotes, and I am creating drugs and medical technologies with two venture companies.
This Keio Medical Science Prize is a significant motivator for me to further my research and technologicaldevelopment.
Contact:
Office of Keio University Medical Science Fund
TEL: +81-3-5363-3609
FAX: +81-3-5363-3215

URL: https://www.ms-fund.keio.ac.jp/en/prize/
E-mail: k-msf@adst.keio.ac.jp

Publisher:
Office of General Affairs, Keio University School of Medicine
TEL: +81-3-5363-3611
FAX: +81-3-5363-3612

URL: http://www.med.keio.ac.jp/en/
E-mail: med-koho@adst.keio.ac.jp

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