2015 Nobel Prize - Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2015 announced Monday Oct 05,2015

 

The Nobel Prize 2015 in Physiology or Medicine jointly went to William C. Campbell and Satoshi Ōmura, and Youyou Tu

 

William C. Campbell and Satoshi Ōmura won it for their discoveries concerning a novel therapy against infections caused by roundworm parasites
Their new drug, Avermectin and its derivatives have lowered the incidence of River Blindness and Lymphatic Filariasis.

Youyou Tu won it for her discoveries concerning a novel therapy for malaria.
She discovered Artemisinin, a drug that has significantly reduced the mortality rates for patients suffering from Malaria


The winners will share the 8 million Swedish kronor (about $960,000) prize money with one half going to Campbell and Omura, and the other to Tu.

Each winner will also get a diploma and a gold medal at the annual award ceremony on Dec. 10,2015 the anniversary of the death of prize founder Alfred Nobel.

Note


The 2014 Medicine Award went to three scientists  - John  O'Keefe,May Britt Moser and Edvard I Moser who discovered the brain’s inner navigation system.

The first Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded in 1901 to the German Physiologist Emil Adolf von Behring,for his work on Serum Therapy and the development of a  Vaccine  against Diphtheria 

The first woman to receive the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine,Gerty Cori, received it in 1947 for her role in elucidating the metabolism of Glucose, important in many aspects of medicine, including treatment of diabetes.

Gerty Cori was a Czech-American Biochemistwho became the third woman—and first American woman—to win a Nobel Prize in science, and the first woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

As of 2014, 105 Nobel Prizes in Physiology or Medicine have been awarded to 206 men and 11 women

Who created the Nobel Prizes?

The prizes in medicine, physics, chemistry, literature and peace were established by the will of Alfred Nobel, a wealthy Swedish industrialist and the inventor of dynamite. The first awards were handed out in 1901, five years after Nobel’s death.

The economics award officially known as the Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel wasn’t created by Nobel, but by Sweden’s central bank in 1968.

Though it’s handed out along with the other prizes and the criteria for selecting winners are the same, it’s not a Nobel Prize in the same sense. 

Who can nominate?

Thousands of people around the world are eligible to submit nominations for the Nobel Prizes. They include university professors, lawmakers, previous Nobel laureates and the committee members themselves. 

The Norwegian connection

The Nobel Peace Prize is presented in Norway while the other awards are handed out in Sweden. That’s how Alfred Nobel wanted it

The peace prize committee is the only one that regularly rewards achievements made in the previous year. According to Nobel’s wishes, that prize should go to “the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses”.

Nobel prizes -Facts

• On 27 November 1895, Alfred Nobel signed his last will and testament, giving the largest share of his fortune to a series of prizes in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature and Peace.

• In 1968, Sweden’s central bank Sveriges Riksbank established The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in memory of Nobel.

• At the Nobel Award ceremonies on December 10, the Laureates receive three things: a Nobel Diploma, a Nobel Medal and a document confirming the Nobel Prize amount.

• Each Nobel Diploma is a unique work of art, created by foremost Swedish and Norwegian artists and calligraphers.

• The Nobel Medals are handmade with careful precision and in 18 carat green gold plated with 24 carat gold.

• The Nobel Prize amount for 2014 is set at Swedish kronor (SEK) 8.0 million per full Nobel Prize