Two winners of the Prince Mahidol Award this year in the fields of medicine and public health were announced on Thursday.
This year's Prince Mahidol Award in medicine goes to Biology Prof Dr Tony Hunter, Salk Institute for Biological Studies, and Adjunct Professor, University of California in the US. The other award for public health went to Emeritus Prof of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Dr Jonathan P Shepherd, who is also Director of the Institute for Crime, Security and Justice Innovation, Cardiff University in the UK.
The 33rd Prince Mahidol Award Laureates for 2024 was announced on Thursday by Prof Apichat Asavamongkolkul, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University as Vice President of the Prince Mahidol Award Foundation and Prof Dr Prasit Watanapa, Chairman of the International Award Committee of the Prince Mahidol Award Foundation.
Shepherd: Wins in public health
The foundation's website said Prof Dr Hunter's significant research achievements included discovering tyrosine kinase enzymes and the phosphorylation process. The application of such research has significantly benefitted the public's well-being and contributed to advancing cancer treatment and research worldwide.
Prof Dr Shepherd's significant achievement was developing and implementing the "Cardiff Model for Violence Prevention."
His research has shown the severity of violent crime problems and their relation to high patient volumes in hospital emergency departments. The research found up to 75% of such incidents go unreported to law enforcement and authorities.
Consequently, a data link was established between hospitals and the police to analyse frequent incident locations, times, and the scale and types of violence. This led to the creation of the model, which was used for planning violence prevention.
As a result, the number of patients needing emergency department services significantly decreased by 42%, helping to reduce healthcare costs related to injuries considerably.