Distinguished Professors James P. Allison and Reinhard Genzel awarded Technion’s prestigious Harvey Prize.
Technion President, Prof. Peretz Lavie, awarded the Harvey Prize to Professor James P. Allison, prominent cancer researcher, and Professor Doctor Reinhard Genzel, internationally acclaimed astrophysicist, at a festive awards ceremony held at the Technion. Professor Allison, an immunologist from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Huston, Texas, was awarded the Harvey Prize in Human Health, and Professor Doctor Reinhard Genzel, an infrared and submillimeter experimental astrophysicist from the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Germany, was awarded the Harvey Prize in Science and Technology.
The Harvey Prize named after the late Leo M. Harvey (1887-1973), awards each year a sum of $ 75,000 to outstanding individuals who have made significant contributions in the fields of science and technology, human health, and the furtherance of peace in the Middle East. This prestigious prize is considered by many a precursor to the Nobel Prize; 13 Harvey Prize winners went on to win the Nobel Prize. Among them is esteemed Professor Shuji Nakamura who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics last December for inventing the blue LED, a major breakthrough in lighting technology.
Professor James P. Allison, who is the Chairman of the Department of Immunology at the MD Anderson Cancer Center, received the Harvey Prize for developing a new paradigm for cancer treatment and for his theoretical and practical contributions to cancer treatment, which transformed the fields of basic and tumor immunology. The MD Anderson Institute, affiliated with the University of Texas, is ranked as one of the nation’s best hospitals for cancer care in the United States.
Prof. Allison, who was born in Texas in 1948, specializes in the field of immunotherapy – treatment by means of strengthening the immune system – particularly in the context of cancer treatment. Allison has a longstanding interest in T cells, which play an important role in the immune system, and his research led him to discover a T-cell inhibitory molecule (known as CTLA-4) which can prevent them from attacking tumors. Following this discovery, Alison developed an antibody to block this inhibitory molecule in the hope that it will enhance anti-tumor immune responses and tumor rejection. His research led to the clinical development of Ipilimumab (Yervoy™), which was approved in May 2011 by the FDA for the treatment of metastatic melanoma. Today, Allison investigates possibilities for applying Ipilimumab and similar inhibitory drugs-treatments in treating other forms of cancer, such as lung, kidney, prostate, intestinal and breast cancer.
In his opening speech, Professor Pertz Lavie described Professor Allison as, “A person of courage and independence, who is not afraid of going against conventional wisdom. In the 1990’s, after the scientific community had all but given up on the idea of cancer immunotherapy – it was Prof. James Allison who kept the flame alive, and eventually succeeded.”
“As a kid I was very curious and always wanted to solve puzzles,” began Prof. Allison in his acceptance speech. “I wanted to be the first to know something that no one else did. I taught myself many subjects and so I got a lot of experience solving puzzles. This is my first visit to Israel and to the Technion, and I was amazed at the high scientific level of researchers and students that I met here. My research stems from my desire to better understand the immune system, and I am very pleased to have developed a drug to help people while on this quest. Doctors tend not to talk about cancer treatment in terms of ‘healing,’ because conventional treatments are always temporary, with cancer having a way of ‘stalking’ a person later on in life. However, there is justification in likening immunotherapy to ‘healing.’ Patients who were treated using our method have reached the 10 year mark, living far longer than the prognosis of a few short months.”
Professor Doctor Reinhard Genzel received the Harvey Prize for showing irrefutable evidence of a massive black hole in the center of the Milky Way (our galaxy) through his development of many nobel ground, airborne and space based instruments that enable the tracking of the motion of stars with unprecedented precision extremely close to the Galactic Center.
Prof. Genzel, who was born in 1952 in Bad Homburg v.d.H., Germany, is a faculty member at the University of California, Berkeley and is the Director at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Garching, Germany. In 2002, Genzel discovered, along with research colleagues in Germany and California, a massive object at the center of the galaxy whose size was smaller than that of the solar system, yet its mass was more than 3 or 4 million than the mass of the sun, in other words, a very massive black hole. This determination was based on the exceptional acceleration of stars surrounding the Galactic Center. Genzel used innovative optical methods and infrared photography to overcome atmospheric disturbances and particles floating in space.
In his opening address, Professor Pertz Lavie shared an excerpt he found to best describe his achievements, “’Prof. Genzel developed instrumentation which enabled him to make outstanding discoveries, including evidence for a massive black hole in the center of our galaxy.’ Think of how amazing that is. We have with us today a scientist who not only made great and important discoveries, but also an innovator who has invented the tools he needed to make those discoveries. A real, twenty-first century Galileo Galilei.”
In his acceptance speech, Prof. Genzel thanked the Technion for this important prize and said, “This is a very meaningful event for me, and I am deeply moved to receive this prize on the year marking the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Germany and Israel. I say this not only because of the past, but also because of the high quality of research and researchers coming out of Israel.
Astronomy is considered to be one of the most ancient sciences, yet the modern tools at our disposal today are expanding our expertise in this field, while pushing forward the frontiers of human knowledge. They allow us to observe, analyze and understand phenomena in space that were previously hidden from our view.”
The Harvey Prize awarded by the Technion was first given in 1972, through the foundation established by Leo M. Harvey from Los Angeles, in order to recognize significant contributions in the advancement of humankind in the areas of science and technology, human health and peace in the Middle East. This prestigious prize has been awarded to scientists from the United States, Britain, Russia, Sweden, France and Israel, among them Nobel Laureate Mikhail Gorbachev, former leader of the USSR, awarded the Harvey Prize in appreciation of his seminal initiatives and policies to lessen regional tensions; Nobel Laureate in Medicine, Professor Bert Sakmann; Nobel Laureate in Physics, Professor Pierre-Gilles de Gennes, Professor Edward Teller for his discoveries in solid state physics, atomic and nuclear energy; and Professor William J. Kolff for his invention of the artificial kidney.
