Robert Koch Prize
Encyclopedia
The Robert Koch Medal and Award are two prizes awarded annually for excellence in the biomedical sciences. These awards grew out of early attempts by Robert Koch
to generate funding to support his research into the cause and cure for tuberculosis. Koch discovered the bacteria (Mycobacterium tuberculosis
) responsible for the dreaded disease and rapidly acquired international support, including 500,000 gold marks from the Scottish-American philanthropist Andrew Carnegie
.
and immunology
. The prestige of this award has grown over the past decades so that it is now widely regarded as the leading international scientific prize in microbiology. As has been described by a jury member for the prize, the committee often asks, What would Robert Koch work on today?” to decide on research that should be granted recognition.
The more specific Koch Prize is commonly considered one of the stepping-stones (along with other prizes such as the Lasker Award
) to eventual Nobel Prize
recognition for scientists in the fields of microbiology and immunology, and a number of Koch Prize winners subsequently became Nobel laureates, such as Cesar Milstein
, Susumu Tonegawa
and Harald zur Hausen
. Other notable awardees include Albert Sabin
, Jonas Salk
and John Enders for their pioneering work on the development of polio vaccines. Only Enders was recognized with a Nobel Prize, together with Thomas Huckle Weller and Frederick Chapman Robbins.
Two separate Robert Koch Awards are presented annually: The Gold Koch Medallion for accumulated excellence in biomedical research and the Koch Prize, €
100,000, for a major discovery in biomedical science.
Robert Koch
Heinrich Hermann Robert Koch was a German physician. He became famous for isolating Bacillus anthracis , the Tuberculosis bacillus and the Vibrio cholerae and for his development of Koch's postulates....
to generate funding to support his research into the cause and cure for tuberculosis. Koch discovered the bacteria (Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a pathogenic bacterial species in the genus Mycobacterium and the causative agent of most cases of tuberculosis . First discovered in 1882 by Robert Koch, M...
) responsible for the dreaded disease and rapidly acquired international support, including 500,000 gold marks from the Scottish-American philanthropist Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie was a Scottish-American industrialist, businessman, and entrepreneur who led the enormous expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century...
.
The Koch Prize
Since 1970, the Koch Foundation has awarded prizes for major advances in the biomedical sciences, particularly in the fields of microbiologyMicrobiology
Microbiology is the study of microorganisms, which are defined as any microscopic organism that comprises either a single cell , cell clusters or no cell at all . This includes eukaryotes, such as fungi and protists, and prokaryotes...
and immunology
Immunology
Immunology is a broad branch of biomedical science that covers the study of all aspects of the immune system in all organisms. It deals with the physiological functioning of the immune system in states of both health and diseases; malfunctions of the immune system in immunological disorders ; the...
. The prestige of this award has grown over the past decades so that it is now widely regarded as the leading international scientific prize in microbiology. As has been described by a jury member for the prize, the committee often asks, What would Robert Koch work on today?” to decide on research that should be granted recognition.
The more specific Koch Prize is commonly considered one of the stepping-stones (along with other prizes such as the Lasker Award
Lasker Award
The Lasker Awards have been awarded annually since 1946 to living persons who have made major contributions to medical science or who have performed public service on behalf of medicine. They are administered by the Lasker Foundation, founded by advertising pioneer Albert Lasker and his wife Mary...
) to eventual Nobel Prize
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
recognition for scientists in the fields of microbiology and immunology, and a number of Koch Prize winners subsequently became Nobel laureates, such as Cesar Milstein
César Milstein
César Milstein FRS was an Argentine biochemist in the field of antibody research. Milstein shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1984 with Niels K. Jerne and Georges Köhler.-Biography:...
, Susumu Tonegawa
Susumu Tonegawa
Susumu Tonegawa is a Japanese scientist who won the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1987 for his discovery of the genetic mechanism that produces antibody diversity. Although he won the Nobel Prize for his work in immunology, Tonegawa is a molecular biologist by training...
and Harald zur Hausen
Harald zur Hausen
Harald zur Hausen is a German virologist and professor emeritus. He has done research on cancer of the cervix, where he discovered the role of papilloma viruses, for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2008.-Biography:Zur Hausen was born in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, went to...
. Other notable awardees include Albert Sabin
Albert Sabin
Albert Bruce Sabin was an American medical researcher best known for having developed an oral polio vaccine.-Life:...
, Jonas Salk
Jonas Salk
Jonas Edward Salk was an American medical researcher and virologist, best known for his discovery and development of the first safe and effective polio vaccine. He was born in New York City to parents from Ashkenazi Jewish Russian immigrant families...
and John Enders for their pioneering work on the development of polio vaccines. Only Enders was recognized with a Nobel Prize, together with Thomas Huckle Weller and Frederick Chapman Robbins.
Two separate Robert Koch Awards are presented annually: The Gold Koch Medallion for accumulated excellence in biomedical research and the Koch Prize, €
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
100,000, for a major discovery in biomedical science.
Koch Prize Winners since 1970
- 1970 William M. Hutchinson (United Kingdom), Jorgen C. Siim (Denmark)
- 1971 Gertrude Henle and Werner Henle (USA)
- 1972 Hubertus Berrens (Netherlands), Alain L. de Weck (Switzerland)
- 1973 Jean Lindenmann (Switzerland), Hans G. Schwick (Germany)
- 1974 Norbert Hilschmann (Germany)
- 1975 Harald zur HausenHarald zur HausenHarald zur Hausen is a German virologist and professor emeritus. He has done research on cancer of the cervix, where he discovered the role of papilloma viruses, for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2008.-Biography:Zur Hausen was born in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, went to...
(Germany), Heinz-G. Wittmann (Germany) - 1976 Richard A. Finkelstein (USA), Mark H. Richmond (United Kingdom)
- 1977 Jean DaussetJean DaussetJean-Baptiste-Gabriel-Joachim Dausset was a French immunologist born in Toulouse, France. He married Rose Mayoral in 1963, with whom he had two children, Henri and Irène...
(France), Jon J. van RoodJon J. van Rood-Awards:In 1978, van Rood was awarded the Wolf Prize in Medicine, jointly with George D. Snell and Jean Dausset, "for his contribution to the understanding of the complexity of the HL-A system in man and its implications in transplantation and in disease."...
(Netherlands) - 1978 Albrecht K. Kleinschmidt (Germany), Heinz L. Sänger (Germany)
- 1979 Ruth ArnonRuth ArnonRuth Arnon is an Israeli biochemist and codeveloper of the multiple sclerosis drug Copaxone. She is currently the Paul Ehrlich Professor of Immunology at the Weizmann Institute of Science.-Early life:...
(Israel), Peter Starlinger (Germany) - 1980 César MilsteinCésar MilsteinCésar Milstein FRS was an Argentine biochemist in the field of antibody research. Milstein shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1984 with Niels K. Jerne and Georges Köhler.-Biography:...
(United Kingdom), Lewis W. WannamakerLewis W. WannamakerLewis W. Wannamaker was an American biochemist who won the Robert Koch Prize with César Milstein in 1980. He received his bachelor's degree from Emory University and his M.D. from the Duke University School of Medicine and taught at the University of Minnesota. He died in 1983.-References:...
(USA) - 1981 Robert M. ChanockRobert M. ChanockRobert Merritt Chanock was an American pediatrician and virologist who made major contributions to the prevention and treatment of childhood respiratory infections in more than 50 years spent at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.Chanock was born July 8, 1924 in Chicago. His...
(USA), Lars Å. Hanson (Sweden) - 1982 Raymond L. Erikson (USA), Franz Oesch (Germany)
- 1983 Werner Goebel (Germany), Robert A. Weinberg (USA)
- 1984 Walter Doerfler (Germany), Stuart F. Schlossman (USA)
- 1985 Stefania JabłońskaStefania JabłońskaStefania Ginsburg-Jabłońska is a Polish physician and professor emeritus of Dermatology at Medical University of Warsaw. She is best known for her research of scleroderma and Human papillomavirus...
(Poland), Gérard Ch. J. Orth (France) - 1986 Susumu TonegawaSusumu TonegawaSusumu Tonegawa is a Japanese scientist who won the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1987 for his discovery of the genetic mechanism that produces antibody diversity. Although he won the Nobel Prize for his work in immunology, Tonegawa is a molecular biologist by training...
(Japan) - 1987 Mario Rizzetto (Italy), Rudolf Rott (Germany), John SkehelJohn SkehelSir John James Skehel, FRS is a British virologist. He was born in Blackburn to Joseph and Annie Skehel in 1941, and was educated at St. Mary's College, Blackburn before being accepted to the University of Aberystwyth for a BSc in agricultural biochemistry.Soon after graduating he married Anita...
(United Kingdom) - 1988 Donald MetcalfDonald MetcalfEmeritus Professor Donald Metcalf AC FRS FAA is an Australian medical researcher who spent most of his career at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in Melbourne...
(Australia) - 1989 Irun R. Cohen (Israel), Alex J. van der Eb (Netherlands)
- 1990 Lloyd J. Old (USA)
- 1991 Walter FiersWalter FiersWalter Fiers is a Belgian molecular biologist.He obtained a degree of Engineer for Chemistry and Agricultural Industries at the University of Ghent in 1954, and started his research career as an enzymologist in the laboratory of Laurent Vandendriessche in Ghent. In 1956-57, he worked with Heinz...
(Belgium), Tadatsugu Taniguchi (Japan) - 1992 Kary B. Mullis (USA)
- 1993 Hans-Georg Rammensee (Germany), Daniel W. Bradley (USA), Michael HoughtonMichael HoughtonMichael Alan Houghton was Bishop of Ebbsfleet from 1998 to 1999.Houghton was born on 14 June 1949 and educated at the University of Lancaster. He worked for British Rail and as a teacher before studying for the priesthood. He was a curate at All Hallows' Wellingborough followed by a period...
(USA) - 1994 Volkmar Braun (Germany), Manuel Elkin Patarroyo Murillo (Colombia)
- 1995 Shigekazu Nagata (Japan), Peter H. Krammer (Germany)
- 1996 Fritz Melchers (Switzerland), Klaus RajewskyKlaus RajewskyKlaus Rajewsky is a German immunologist, renowned for his work on B cells.He studied medicine in Frankfurt, Munich and at the Pasteur Institute, Paris. In 1964, he started working at the Institute of Genetics in the University of Cologne, where he became professor for genetics. He researched...
(Germany) - 1997 Philippe J. Sansonetti (France)
- 1998 Yuan ChangYuan ChangYuan Chang is an American virologist and pathologist who co-discovered Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus and Merkel cell polyomavirus, two of the seven known human cancer viruses....
(USA), Patrick S. MoorePatrick S. MoorePatrick S. Moore is an American virologist and epidemiologist who co-discovered together with his wife, Yuan Chang, two different human viruses causing the AIDS-related cancer Kaposi's sarcoma and the skin cancer Merkel cell carcinoma...
(USA) - 1999 Ralph M. SteinmanRalph M. SteinmanRalph Marvin Steinman was a Canadian immunologist and cell biologist at Rockefeller University, who in 1973 coined the term dendritic cells while working as a postdoc in the lab of Zanvil A. Cohn, also at Rockefeller University....
(USA) - 2000 Stanley FalkowStanley FalkowStanley Falkow, PhD, is microbiologist and a professor of microbiology and immunology at Stanford University School of Medicine. He is sometimes referred to as the father of molecular microbial pathogenesis, which is the study of how infectious microbes and host cells interact to cause disease at...
(USA) - 2001 Axel UllrichAxel UllrichAxel Ullrich in is a German cancer researcher and has been the Director of the Molecular biology dept. at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Martinsried, Germany since 1988. This deptartment's research has primarily focused on signal transduction...
(Germany) - 2002 Rudolf JaenischRudolf JaenischRudolf Jaenisch is a biologist at MIT. He is a pioneer of transgenic science, in which an animal’s genetic makeup is altered. Jaenisch has focused on creating transgenic mice to study cancer and neurological diseases....
(USA) - 2003 Adriano Aguzzi (Switzerland)
- 2004 Shizuo AkiraShizuo Akira, M.D., Ph.D., is a distinguished and highly cited professor at the Department of Host Defense, Osaka University, Japan...
(Japan), Bruce A. BeutlerBruce A. BeutlerBruce Alan Beutler is an American immunologist and geneticist. Together with Jules A. Hoffmann, they received one-half of the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, for "their discoveries concerning the activation of innate immunity" Bruce Alan Beutler (born December 29, 1957) is an American...
(USA), Jules A. HoffmannJules A. HoffmannJules A. Hoffmann is a Luxembourgish-born French biologist. He is a research director and member of the board of administrators of the National Center of Scientific Research in Strasbourg, France. In 2007, he became President of the French Academy of Sciences...
(France) - 2005 Brian J. DrukerBrian DrukerBrian J. Druker is a physician-scientist at the Oregon Health & Science University. He is the director of OHSU Knight Cancer Institute, JELD-WEN Chair of Leukemia Research, and professor of medicine...
(USA) - 2006 Peter PalesePeter PalesePeter Palese, Ph.D, is an American microbiologist and Professor and Chair of the Department of Microbiology at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City, and an expert in the field of RNA viruses....
, Yoshihiro KawaokaYoshihiro Kawaokais a leading scientist in the field of influenza and other infectious diseases. He is currently a Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Tokyo....
(Japan) - 2007 Pascale CossartPascale CossartPascale Cossart is an award-winning bacteriologist at the Pasteur Institute of Paris, and the foremost authority on Listeria monocytogenes, a deadly and common food-borne pathogen responsible for encephalitis, meningitis, bacteremia, gastroenteritis, and other diseases.- Biography :Cossart earned...
(France) - 2008 Hans Robert SchölerHans Robert SchölerHans Robert Schöler is a molecular biologist and stem cell researcher. He is director at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Biomedicine in Münster.-Biography:...
(Germany), Irving WeissmanIrving WeissmanIrving Lerner "Irv" Weissman M.D. is a Professor of Pathology and Developmental Biology at Stanford University where he is the Director of the Stanford Institute of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine....
(USA), Shinya YamanakaShinya Yamanakais a Japanese physician and adult stem cell researcher. He serves as the director of Center for iPS Cell Research and Application and a professor at the Institute for Frontier Medical Sciences at Kyoto University, as a senior investigator at the UCSF-affiliated J...
(Japan) - 2009 Carl F. Nathan (USA)
- 2010 Max Dale Cooper (USA)
- 2011 Jorge E. Galán (USA)
Koch Gold Medal winners since 1960
- 1960 Hugo Braun (Germany), René DubosRené DubosRené Jules Dubos was a French-born American microbiologist, experimental pathologist, environmentalist, humanist, and winner of the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction for his book So Human An Animal. He is credited as an author of a maxim "Think globally, act locally"...
(USA), Toshiaki Ebina (Japan), Ludwig Heilmeyer (Germany), Franz Redeker (Germany), Josef Tomczik (Switzerland) - 1962 John Franklin EndersJohn Franklin EndersJohn Franklin Enders was an American medical scientist and Nobel laureate. Enders had been called "The Father of Modern Vaccines."-Life:...
(USA), Albert SabinAlbert SabinAlbert Bruce Sabin was an American medical researcher best known for having developed an oral polio vaccine.-Life:...
(USA), Jonas SalkJonas SalkJonas Edward Salk was an American medical researcher and virologist, best known for his discovery and development of the first safe and effective polio vaccine. He was born in New York City to parents from Ashkenazi Jewish Russian immigrant families...
(USA) - 1963 Tomizo Yoshida (Japan)
- 1974 Paul Kallós (Sweden)
- 1977 Pierre Grabar (France)
- 1978 Theodor v. Brand (Germany), Saul KrugmanSaul KrugmanNot to be confused with Paul Krugman.Saul Krugman was a medical researcher who discovered a vaccine against hepatitis B.-Early Years and Education:The son of Russian Jewish immigrants, Krugman was born in the Bronx in 1911...
(USA) - 1979 Sir Christopher AndrewesChristopher AndrewesSir Christopher Howard Andrewes FRS was a British virologist. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1939.-External links:* at Find-A-Grave...
(United Kingdom) - 1980 Emmy Klieneberg-Nobel (United Kingdom)
- 1981 Maclyn McCartyMaclyn McCartyMaclyn McCarty was an American geneticist.Maclyn McCarty, who devoted his life as a physician-scientist to studying infectious disease organisms, was best known for his part in the monumental discovery that DNA, rather than protein, constituted the chemical nature of a gene...
(USA) - 1982 Edgar Lederer (France), Walter PagelWalter PagelWalter Traugott Ulrich Pagel was a German pathologist and medical historian. Pagel was born in Berlin as the son of Julius Leopold Pagel. He married Dr. Magda Koll in 1920. They had a son, Bernard, in 1930. Pagel made his doctorate in Berlin in 1922, and became professor in Heidelberg in 1931...
(United Kingdom), Karel Styblo (Netherlands) - 1985 Richard M. Krause (USA)
- 1986 Ernst RuskaErnst RuskaErnst August Friedrich Ruska was a German physicist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1986 for his work in electron optics, including the design of the first electron microscope.Ruska was born in Heidelberg...
(Germany) - 1987 Hans J. Müller-EberhardHans J. Müller-EberhardHans Joachim Müller-Eberhard was a distinguished molecular immunologist who did pioneering research in the United States and his native Germany. The areas of investigation upon which he left his mark include the immunoglobulins and the complement system.-External links:*, an excellent biographical...
(USA) - 1988 Willy BurgdorferWilly BurgdorferWilly Burgdorfer, an American scientist born and educated in Basel, Switzerland, is an international leader in the field of medical entomology. He is famous for his discovery of the bacterial pathogen that causes Lyme disease, a spirochete named Borrelia burgdorferi in his honor.-Background:Dr....
(USA) - 1989 Maurice HillemanMaurice HillemanMaurice Ralph Hilleman was an American microbiologist who specialized in vaccinology and developed over three dozen vaccines, more than any other scientist...
(USA) - 1990 Ernst L. Wynder (USA)
- 1991 Werner Schäfer (Germany)
- 1992 Piet Borst (Netherlands), Howard C. Goodmann (USA)
- 1993 Karl Lennert (Germany), Otto Westphal (Switzerland)
- 1994 Paul KleinPaul KleinPaul Klein is the name of:*Paul Klein , German–Ecuadorian chess player*Paul Klein , American art activist from Chicago*Paul Klein , business advisor...
(Germany) - 1995 Charles WeissmannCharles WeissmannCharles Weissmann is a Hungarian-born Swiss molecular biologist.Weissmann went to Zurich University and obtained his MD in 1956 and Ph. D. in Organic Chemistry in 1961. Weissmann was director of the Institute for Molecular Biology in Zurich, President of the Roche Research Foundation and...
(Switzerland) - 1996 Sir Gustav NossalGustav NossalSir Gustav Victor Joseph Nossal, AC, CBE, FRS, FAA is an Australian research biologist.-Life and career:Gustav Nossal's family was from Vienna, Austria. He was born four weeks prematurely in Bad Ischl while his mother was on holiday...
(Australia) - 1997 Satoshi Omura (Japan)
- 1998 George KleinGeorge Klein (biologist)George Klein is a biologist who has specialized in studying certain types of tumors. He started a tumor biology center at Karolinska Institute and made a connection there between the epstein-Barr virus and lymphomas and other cancers. He is married to Eva Klein, also a biologist, and has a son...
(Sweden) - 1999 Barry R. Bloom (USA)
- 2000 Marco Baggiolini (Switzerland)
- 2001 Avrion MitchisonAvrion MitchisonThe Honourable Avrion "Av" Mitchison FRS is a British zoologist and immunologist.- Biography :Mitchison was born in 1928, the son of the Labour politician Dick Mitchison and his wife, the writer Naomi . His uncle was the biologist J.B.S...
(United Kingdom) - 2002 Agnes Ullmann (France)
- 2003 Tadamitsu Kishimoto (Japan)
- 2004 Heinz Schaller (Germany)
- 2005 Emil R. UnanueEmil R. UnanueDr. Emil Raphael Unanue is an immunologist and the current Paul & Ellen Lacy Professor at Washington University School of Medicine. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Institute of Medicine...
(USA) - 2006 Hans-Dieter Klenk (Germany)
- 2007 Brigitte A. Askonas (United Kingdom)
- 2008 Philip LederPhilip LederPhilip Leder is an American geneticist. He was born in Washington, D.C. and studied at Harvard University, graduating in 1956. In 1960, he graduated from Harvard Medical School....
(USA) - 2009 Volker ter Meulen (Germany, Würzburg)
- 2010 Fotis C. Kafatos (United Kingdom)
- 2011 Ernst-Ludwig Winnacker (Germany)
Sources
- Embo Reports
- Robert-Koch-Stiftung (German)