Ontario matches $500,000 Kyoto Prize funding for renowned cell biologist Tony Pawson
Dr. Anthony Pawson
(Courtesy Hospital for Sick Children)
Cell biologist Dr. Anthony Pawson has been awarded the prestigious Kyoto Prize for his revolutionary contribution to the scientific understanding of intracellular communication. Following a ceremony at the MaRS Centre in Toronto on February 18 to celebrate the Prize, which was awarded in Kyoto last November, the Government of Ontario announced it would match the $500,000 prize with an equal contribution of funding to support Dr. Pawson’s research.
Pawson is a professor at the University of Toronto and conducts research at the Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute of Mount Sinai Hospital. He received the Kyoto Prize for discoveries which have led to major improvements in the understanding and treatment of diseases including diabetes and cancer.
“We are very fortunate to have Dr. Pawson working in cancer research in Ontario,” Dr. Tom Hudson, President and Scientific Director of the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR). “On behalf of OICR, I’d like to congratulate him for his accomplishments and for this very well-deserved award.”
The Inamori Foundation, the organization responsible for granting the prize, recognized Pawson for discoveries that have impacted a wide range of biomedical research.
“Dr. Pawson’s discovery of the SH2 domain and identification of its role in intracellular signalling has revolutionized scientific understanding of the way in which cells communicate, impacting nearly every aspect of biomedical research ― including developmental biology, endocrinology, immunology, cancer research, cardiovascular research, neurobiology and hematology,” the Foundation stated in a news release.
Pawson’s discoveries have also allowed for the development of new drugs that have been shown to halt the multiplication of certain types of cancer cells, noted the Inamori Foundation, the Japanese organization that awards the Kyoto Prize. The prize is awarded annually to people who have made significant contributions to the scientific, cultural and spiritual development of humanity.
This is the 24th year that the Kyoto Prize has been awarded and the first that it has been awarded to Canadian recipients. The matching funds from the Government of Ontario will help fund Dr. Pawson’s ongoing work in cell biology.
Pawson says the announcement of additional funding underscores the importance of funding biomedical research.
“The fact that the Ontario government is matching the Kyoto Prize is very exciting – it establishes a very real bond between Ontario and Kyoto, two globally recognized centres of scientific excellence. This enlightened support is essential to maintain the outstanding quality of biomedical research in Ontario, and to promote the careers of outstanding young scientists who will be the research leaders of the future,” he said.
Each Kyoto Prize laureate receive a diploma, a 20-karat gold medal, and a cash gift of Japanese Yen amounting to approximately CAD$500,000. The laureates also reconvened in San Diego in March to participate in the eighth annual Kyoto Laureate Symposium.
"It is my hope that the Kyoto Prize will encourage balanced development of both our scientific progress and spiritual depth, and hence provide impetus toward the structuring of new philosophical paradigms," said Dr. Kazuo Inamori, founder and president of the Inamori Foundation, at a ceremony in Japan last November to announce this year’s award recipients.
In addition to Pawson, this year's Kyoto Prize laureates include Richard Karp, a professor of electrical engineering and computer sciences at University of California, Berkeley and a senior research scientist at the International Computer Science Institute, who was honoured in the Advanced Technology category; and Charles Taylor, 76, a philosopher and professor emeritus at McGill University of Montreal, who was honoured in the Arts and Philosophy category. This is the first year that all of the prize recipients reside in North America.
Pawson's discovery of the SH2 domain
In 1986, Pawson demonstrated that intracellular signalling proteins carry a domain with a unique modular structure, which he termed Src homology 2 (SH2), and that this domain is involved in intracellular signalling that facilitates cellular growth and differentiation. He recognized the importance of proteins carrying the SH2 domain, which is responsible for transmitting commands that regulate cellular reproduction and metabolism. Pawson discovered that oncogene products and signalling proteins share a common sequence consisting of about 100 amino acid residues, and that these proteins act as adapters in intracellular signal transduction, influencing the transformation of cells and the development of cancer-like cell behaviour.
Source: KyotoPrize.org
