The Dr. Paul Janssen Award for Biomedical Research is given annually by

Johnson & Johnson Johnson & Johnson (J&J) is an American multinational corporation founded in 1886 that develops medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and consumer packaged goods. Its common stock is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the company i ...

to honor the work of an active scientist in academia, industry or a scientific institute in the field of biomedical research. It was established in 2004 and perpetuates the memory of Paul Janssen, the founder of Janssen Pharmaceutica, a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary.

The Award

The Dr. Paul Janssen Award includes a $200,000 prize and acknowledges the work of an individual who has made a significant, transformational contribution toward the improvement of human health.

created the award in 2004 with the following goals: * To honor the memory of Janssen, his dedication to excellence and his leadership of young scientists * To promote, recognize and reward passion and creativity in biomedical research * To underscore

's commitment to scientific excellence in the advancement of healthcare knowledge, while fulfilling its responsibility in the community

Paul Adriaan Jan Janssen (1926–2003)

Known to his colleagues as “Dr. Paul,” Janssen was the founder of Janssen Pharmaceutica, N.V., a pharmaceutical research laboratory based in

Beerse Beerse () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality comprises the towns of Beerse proper and . In 2021, Beerse had a total population of 18,194. The total area is 37.48 km2 (14.5 sq mi). The pharmaceutical ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

, and a physician-scientist who helped save millions of lives through his contribution to the discovery and development of more than 80 medicines. His work was responsible for many breakthroughs in several fields of disease, including

pain Pain is a distressing feeling often caused by intense or damaging stimuli. The International Association for the Study of Pain defines pain as "an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with, or resembling that associated with, ...

management,

psychiatry Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of mental disorders. These include various maladaptations related to mood, behaviour, cognition, and perceptions. See glossary of psychiatry. Initial psych ...

infectious disease An infection is the invasion of tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmissible disease or communicable dise ...

and

gastroenterology Gastroenterology (from the Greek gastḗr- “belly”, -énteron “intestine”, and -logía "study of") is the branch of medicine focused on the digestive system and its disorders. The digestive system consists of the gastrointestinal tract ...

. In addition, he has more than 100 patents to his name.

Selection Process

The award recipients are selected by an independent committee of scientists from leading academic and scientific institutions, whose own research contributions have resulted in critical advances in improving human health. The 2010 Selection Committee includes past Nobel Laureates, members of the National Academy of Sciences and previous winners of The Dr. Paul Janssen Award. The Selection Committee chooses a scientist in basic or clinical research, who: * Has made a significant contribution to research that has impacted, or has strong potential to impact, human health through the diagnosis, treatment or prevention of disease * Exhibits the standards of innovation, insight and leadership that Janssen exemplified during his career * Provides a living example that the study of science and technology can enable or has the potential to enable extended, healthy, productive life * Displays a set of ethical values consistent with th
Johnson & Johnson Credo
and those values that guide

The award can be given to a scientist in academia, government, industry, a private research institution or medical or clinical practice. It typically will recognize an individual scientist, but can be shared if the contributions of the nominees are considered to have similar importance.

Recipients

Source
Jannsen
* 2006:

Craig C. Mello Craig Cameron Mello (born October 18, 1960) is an American biologist and professor of molecular medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester, Massachusetts. He was awarded the 2006 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine, ...

, a professor of Molecular Medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School,

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Englan ...

, MA, and an investigator at the

Howard Hughes Medical Institute The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) is an American non-profit medical research organization based in Chevy Chase, Maryland. It was founded in 1953 by Howard Hughes, an American business magnate, investor, record-setting pilot, engineer, fil ...

, for his role in the discovery of RNA interference (RNAi) and the elucidation of its biological functions * 2008: Professor

Marc Feldmann Sir Marc Feldmann, (born 2 December 1944), is an Australian-educated British immunologist. He is a professor at the University of Oxford and a senior research fellow at Somerville College, Oxford. Biography Feldmann was born 2 December 1944 ...

and Emeritus Professor Sir

Ravinder N. Maini Sir Ravinder Nath Maini (born 17 November 1937) is an Indian-born British rheumatologist and academic who is an emeritus professor at Imperial College London. He led the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology. Biography Maini was born in Ludhiana, ...

of The Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology,

Imperial College London Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

, for their role in the discovery of tumor necrosis factor-alpha, or TNF-alpha, as an effective therapeutic target for rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases. * 2009: Axel Ullrich, director of the Department of Molecular Biology,

Max Planck Institute Max or MAX may refer to: Animals * Max (dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog * Max (English Springer Spaniel), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of OBE) * Max (gorilla) (1 ...

of Biochemistry in Germany, for his pioneering work in applying

molecular biology Molecular biology is the branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecular basis of biological activity in and between cells, including biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactions. The study of chemical and physi ...

and

molecular cloning Molecular cloning is a set of experimental methods in molecular biology that are used to assemble recombinant DNA molecules and to direct their replication within host organisms. The use of the word ''cloning'' refers to the fact that the metho ...

to the discovery of protein therapeutics for the treatment of a wide range of diseases, including diabetes and cancer. * 2010:

Anthony S. Fauci Anthony Stephen Fauci (; born December 24, 1940) is an American physician-scientist and immunologist serving as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and the chief medical advisor to the president. ...

, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and Erik De Clercq, Professor Emeritus, Rega Institute for Medical Research. Dr. Fauci received the award for his pioneering contributions to basic and clinical research in the areas of

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

and other

immunodeficiencies Immunodeficiency, also known as immunocompromisation, is a state in which the immune system's ability to fight infectious diseases and cancer is compromised or entirely absent. Most cases are acquired ("secondary") due to extrinsic factors that a ...

, both as a scientist and through his service as the Director of the NIAID. Dr. De Clercq was recognized for his landmark discoveries in

anti-HIV medications The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of '' Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immu ...

, including nucleotide analogues, and inventions or co-inventions of several approved drugs for anti-viral therapy. * 2011: Napoleone Ferrara,

Genentech Genentech, Inc., is an American biotechnology corporation headquartered in South San Francisco, California. It became an independent subsidiary of Roche in 2009. Genentech Research and Early Development operates as an independent center within R ...

Fellow, for his research on

angiogenesis Angiogenesis is the physiological process through which new blood vessels form from pre-existing vessels, formed in the earlier stage of vasculogenesis. Angiogenesis continues the growth of the vasculature by processes of sprouting and splitting ...

, the process of new

blood vessel The blood vessels are the components of the circulatory system that transport blood throughout the human body. These vessels transport blood cells, nutrients, and oxygen to the tissues of the body. They also take waste and carbon dioxide away ...

formation that plays a key role in

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

proliferation and a number of other diseases. Dr. Ferrara’s discoveries opened the door to the development of a new class of therapeutics to combat a serious

eye Eyes are organs of the visual system. They provide living organisms with vision, the ability to receive and process visual detail, as well as enabling several photo response functions that are independent of vision. Eyes detect light and conv ...

disorder and contributed to the development of new

oncology Oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with the study, treatment, diagnosis and prevention of cancer. A medical professional who practices oncology is an ''oncologist''. The name's etymological origin is the Greek word ὄγκος (''ó ...

therapeutics. * 2012: Victor Ambros, of the University of Massachusetts Medical School, and Gary Ruvkun of

Massachusetts General Hospital Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General or MGH) is the original and largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School located in the West End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is the third oldest general hospital in the United Stat ...

and

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the graduate medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is one of the oldest medical schools in the United States and is consi ...

, for their collaborative discovery of microRNAs (miRNAs) as central regulators of gene expression and development. * 2013: David Julius, chair of the Department of Physiology at the

University of California, San Francisco The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is a public land-grant research university in San Francisco, California. It is part of the University of California system and is dedicated entirely to health science and life science. It cond ...

for his discovery of the molecular mechanism that controls thermosensation. * 2014: Emmanuelle Charpentier, Professor at the Hannover Medical School and Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI), Germany and The Laboratory for Molecular Infection Medicine Sweden (MIMS), Umeå University, Sweden and Jennifer Doudna, a

Investigator and Li Ka Shing Professor of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology, University of California, Berkeley, for their work on a new method for precise and facile genomic editing. * 2015:

Bert Vogelstein Bert Vogelstein (born 1949) is director of the Ludwig Center, Clayton Professor of Oncology and Pathology and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator at The Johns Hopkins Medical School and Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center. A pion ...

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

, Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center and the

, for his breakthroughs in oncology research. * 2016: Yoshinori Ohsumi, Professor, Frontier Research Center,

Tokyo Institute of Technology is a national research university located in Greater Tokyo Area, Japan. Tokyo Tech is the largest institution for higher education in Japan dedicated to science and technology, one of first five Designated National University and selected as ...

, Yokohama, Japan, for his pioneering discoveries in the field of

autophagy Autophagy (or autophagocytosis; from the Ancient Greek , , meaning "self-devouring" and , , meaning "hollow") is the natural, conserved degradation of the cell that removes unnecessary or dysfunctional components through a lysosome-dependent re ...

. * 2017:

Douglas C. Wallace Douglas Cecil Wallace (born November 6, 1946) is a geneticist and evolutionary biology, evolutionary biologist at the University of Pennsylvania and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania. He pioneered the use of human mitochondr ...

, Founder and Director, Center for Mitochondrial and Epigenomic Medicine, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia; Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, for pioneering the field of human mitochondrial genetics and its application to the study of disease, aging, and patterns of human migration. * 2018: James P. Allison, Professor and Chair, Department of Immunology, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, for pioneering a novel and effective strategy to harness the immune system for treating solid tumor cancers. * 2019:

Franz-Ulrich Hartl Franz-Ulrich Hartl (born 10 March 1957) is a German biochemist and Managing Director of the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry. He is known for his pioneering work in the field of protein-mediated protein folding and is a recipient of the 2011 ...

, Director, Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry and

Arthur Horwich Arthur L. Horwich (born 1951) is an American biologist and Sterling Professor, Sterling Professor of Genetics and Pediatrics at the Yale School of Medicine. Horwich has also been a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator since 1990. His rese ...

, Sterling Professor of Genetics and Professor of Pediatrics,

Yale School of Medicine The Yale School of Medicine is the graduate medical school at Yale University, a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was founded in 1810 as the Medical Institution of Yale College and formally opened in 1813. The primary te ...

and Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, for their revolutionary insights into chaperone-mediated protein folding.

References

External links