2-6-20, Yaesu, Chuo-ku,
Tel +81-(0)3-3274-5125

Tokyo 104-0028 JapanFax +81-(0)3-3274-5103

http://www.hondafoundation.jp

PRESS RELEASE
September 27, 2012

Pioneer of Diffusion MRI for Acute Stroke Diagnosis
Dr. Denis Le Bihan, Founding Director of France's NeuroSpin
for Ultrahigh Field MRI, Receives Honda Prize 2012
The Honda Foundation, a public-interest incorporated foundation created by Honda Motor’sfounder Soichiro Honda and his younger brother Benjiro Honda and currently headed byHiroto Ishida, is pleased to announce the Honda Prize 2012 will be awarded to Dr. Denis Le
Bihan for his leading role in establishing the Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging(Diffusion MRI) modality as a universal method to study and diagnose acute stroke and otherneurological disorders. The Founding Director of France's NeuroSpin for Ultrahigh Field MRI,
Dr. Le Bihan also teaches at Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine’s Human
Brain Research Center. Dr. Le Bihan is the 33rd laureate of the Honda Prize*1.
Dr. Denis Le Bihan is a pioneer of the Diffusion MRI concept from theorization of water
diffusion measurement by MRI to its application in clinical practice, and his innovative
imaging techniques have rapidly spread throughout the world. Combined with the advance of
intravenous thrombolytic therapy, Diffusion MRI has spared many patients suffering acutestroke by drastically shortening the time required for diagnosis within just minutes to a few
hours after the stroke onset, when brain tissue is still salvageable. Crisp Diffusion MRI
images also facilitate the diagnosis of other neurological diseases and the determination of theextent of tumor dissection before performing surgery, leading to a drastic decline in the risk ofdamaging white matter fibers associated with bodily function during surgical procedures.
Indeed, Diffusion MRI has also become a powerful tool to map the wiring of the brain, which
has been on the front line of modern neuroscience research, especially in such related field as
cognitive neuroscience, neuropsychology, and neuroeconomics. The Diffusion MRItechnology is opening up new lines of inquiry to investigate faulty brain connections
associated to brain illnesses, such as aging and neurodegenerative diseases (Alzheimer,Parkinson's disease), mental health disorders (autism, schizophrenia), addiction and otherneurological diseases, because by analyzing Diffusion MRI images one can determine exactly
which and how nerve fibers are lost or damaged in the brain due to these disorders.

Another promising application of Diffusion MRI includes early detection of tumors andmetastases as diffusion of water in cancer lesions (liver, prostate, breast) is deeply affected.
The principles and measurement techniques underlying Diffusion MRI are rooted in theclassic formula proposed for Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) by E. O. Stejskal and J. E.
Tanner in 1965. Dr. Le Bihan studied NMR imaging intensively and suggested that
diffusional movements of water and other molecules inside the body could be used tovisualize microscopic structure and function of the organs and tissues being observed withMRI. Dr. Le Bihan devised the Diffusion MRI method for clinical practice by noninvasively
visualizing behavior of water diffusion inside the brain when water molecules move in astrong magnetic field gradient.
Dr. Le Bihan’s Diffusion MRI method has spread across the world for the immediate
treatment of acute stroke and other neurological disorders and has saved large number oflives. The Honda Foundation believes his services to society are appropriate for the Honda
Prize as an embodiment of the ideals of ecotechnology*2.

The 33rd award ceremony for the Honda Prize will be held at the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo on
November 19th, 2012. In addition to the prize medal and certificate, sub-prize money of 10
million yen will be awarded to the laureate.
*1

Honda Prize: Japan’s first international science and technology award inaugurated in 1980. It is recognized
as one of the most important awards of the world by the U.S. International Congress of DistinguishedAwards.

*2Ecotechnology: Coined from ‘ecology’ - the house of civilization - and ‘technology.’ It has been put forward
since 1979 as the guiding philosophy for a better symbiosis between technology-driven civilization andnature.

For more information, contact the Honda Foundation via:
phone at +81-3-3274-5125 or fax at +81-3-3274-5103
Honda Yaesu Building, 2-6-20 Yaesu, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0028, Japan
http://www.hondafoundation.jp/en/You may also contact Honda Motor’s Public Relations Department at +81-3-5142-1512.

Dr. Denis Le Bihan
M.D., Ph.D., Director NeuroSpin, CEA Saclay
Born: July 30, 1957 in Nanterre, France (French citizenship)
Education and Training
Medicine (University of Paris):
1987: French Board Certification in Radiology.
1984: MD, Doctor in Medicine with Distinction, University of Paris.
1981-87: Residency in Neurosurgery, Nuclear Medicine and Radiology.
Physics (University of Paris):
1987: PhD in Physical Sciences, with High Distinction, Ecole Polytechnique.
1985: Extensive Studies Degree (DEA) in Nuclear and Elementary Particles Physics, with Distinction.
1984: Maitrise ("MA") in Fundamental Physics, with High Distinction.
1983: Licence ("BS") in Fundamental Physics, with High Distinction.
Human Biology (University of Paris):
1979: Higher Studies Degree in Neurophysiology and Central Nervous System Functional Exploration.
1978: Extensive Studies Degree (AEA) in Biomathematics, Data Processing and Statistics, with major
in Mathematical Models in Medicine.
1977: Higher Studies Degree in Computer Sciences.
Employment history
NeuroSpin, CEA-Saclay, France 2007-present: Director
Kyoto University, Japan: 2005-06, 08-present: Invited Professor, Graduate School of Medicine, HumanBrain Research Center
Federative Research Institute on Functional Neuroimaging, Paris, France: 2000-present: Director
Service Hospitalier Frédéric Joliot, CEA, Orsay, France 1999-2006 : Director, Laboratory of
Anatomical and Functional Neuroimaging 1997-98: Vice-Head and Research Director 1994-96: Chief,
Research and Methodology Section.
Georgetown University Hospital, Washington, DC, USA, 1991-96: Clinical Associate Professor ofRadiology, Dept. of Radiology, 1989-91: Clinical Assistant Professor of Radiology, Dept. of Radiology.
National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA 1990-94: Chief, Diagnostic Radiology ResearchSection (with Tenure) 1987-90: Visiting Associate, Diagnostic Radiology Department, Clinical Center.
Biographical Sketch
Denis Le Bihan has achieved international recognition for his outstanding contributions to the development of
new imaging methods allowing, in particular studying human brain function. His work has combined extremely
innovative methods, developed for Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) with the application of these methods toquestions of the utmost scientific and clinical importance. He is a full member of the French Academy of Sciences
and currently the Founding Director of NeuroSpin, a new Institute aimed at developing and using ultra high field
Magnetic Resonance to understand the brain, from mouse to man. He has authored or co-authored over 250
articles, book chapters and review articles in the fields of MRI, imaging, neuroscience and radiology. For hiscontributions, he was awarded in 2001 the Gold Medal of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance inMedicine. He is also the 2002 recipient of the Lounsbery Award from the National Academy of Sciences (USA)and French Academy of Sciences and a 2003 corecipient (with S. Dehaene) of the prestigious Louis D. Award ofthe Institut de France. He is Knight of the French National Order of Merit.
Publications

Imagerie par Resonance Magnetique: Bases Physiques. Masson, Paris, 1984. Magnetic ResonanceImaging of Diffusion and Perfusion: Applications to Functional Imaging. Lippincott-Raven Press, NY, 1995.
Water, the forgotten biological molecule (with H. Fukuyama), 2011, Pan Stanford Publishing, Singapore, Le
cerveau de cristal, ce que la neuroimagerie nous révèle (in press, Odile Jacob)