24
th Annual Albert B. Sabin
Gold Medal
Award Award Ceremony April 25, 2017 National Academy of Sciences Building Washington, DC
Presented to
Jan Holmgren, M.D., Ph.D. for his pioneering contributions to oral vaccine research & mucosal immunology, and his leadership in the discovery of the world’s first effective oral cholera vaccine
Ceremony Program 5:30 PM
REGISTRATION & HORS D’OEUVRES
6:30 PM
WELCOME Amy Finan Chief Executive Officer, Sabin Vaccine Institute
Bruce Gellin, M.D., M.P.H. President, Global Immunization, Sabin Vaccine Institute
His Excellency Björn Lyrvall Ambassador of Sweden to the United States
INTRODUCTION & PRESENTATION OF THE ALBERT B. SABIN GOLD MEDAL John D. Clemens, M.D. Executive Director, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh
ACCEPTANCE Jan Holmgren, M.D., Ph.D. Professor of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, University of Gothenburg 7:30 PM DESSERT RECEPTION
About Sabin Vaccine Institute The Sabin Vaccine Institute is a leading advocate for expanding vaccine access and uptake globally, advancing vaccine research and development, and amplifying vaccine knowledge and innovation. Unlocking the potential of vaccines through partnership, Sabin has built a robust ecosystem of funders, innovators, implementers, practitioners, policy makers and public stakeholders to advance its vision of a future free from preventable diseases. As a non-profit with more than two decades of experience, Sabin is committed to finding solutions that last and extending the full benefits of vaccines to all people, regardless of who they are or where they live. At Sabin, we believe in the power of vaccines to change the world. For more information, visit sabin.org and follow us on Twitter, @SabinVaccine.
Legacy of Dr. Albert B. Sabin Dr. Albert B. Sabin is best known as the developer of the oral live virus polio vaccine. It was this vaccine — inexpensive, easy to administer and conferring long-lasting immunity — which was used in the global effort to eradicate polio around the world. After receiving his medical degree in 1931, Dr. Sabin began research on poliomyelitis (polio), which at Dr. Sabin administers his oral vaccine the time had reached epidemic to two Cincinnati children - 1960s proportions around the globe. At the Children’s Hospital Research Foundation in Cincinnati, Ohio, he was able to prove that polio was an infection of the alimentary tract, indicating that polio might be prevented by an oral vaccine.
Dr. Sabin in his laboratory - 1955
Dr. Sabin’s early research was interrupted by World War II. He joined the U.S. Army Epidemiological Board’s Virus Committee in 1941 and accepted assignments abroad, where he worked on vaccines for encephalitis, visceral leishmaniasis and dengue fever. At the end of World War II, Dr. Sabin returned to Cincinnati and resumed his research.
He focused on isolating a mutant form of the polio virus incapable of producing the disease and thereby safe for introduction to the human body. The avirulent virus reproduced rapidly in the intestines, displacing lethal forms of the polio virus and providing protection from the disease. The oral vaccine was first tested in the Soviet Union from 1957 to 1959 and introduced in the United States in 1959. Dr. Sabin’s vaccine was used until 2016 to eradicate polio around the world. His vaccine saved millions of children from death and disability, thanks to Dr. Sabin’s tireless commitment to ensure that every child was protected from preventable disease. It was in this spirit that his longtime friends and colleagues — led by his widow, the late Heloisa Sabin, and Sabin’s Founding Chairman, the late Dr. H.R. Shepherd — established the Sabin Vaccine Institute in 1993 following Dr. Sabin’s death. Heloisa Sabin shared her husband’s dedication to the elimination of needless human suffering and poverty. She continued to champion Heloisa Sabin at a Decoration Ceremony in her honor at the vaccines as a vital tool in the fight Brazilian Consulate - ca 2012 against preventable diseases until her death in October 2016 at the age of 98. We are proud to continue Dr. Sabin’s legacy by making vaccines more accessible, enabling innovation and expanding immunization across the globe.
Images of Dr. Sabin courtesy of Winkler Center for the Health Professions, University of Cincinnati
About Jan Holmgren, M.D., Ph.D.
Dr. Jan Holmgren developed the world’s first effective oral cholera vaccine, and has continued to make significant contributions to the field through his pioneering research on oral vaccines and mucosal immunology. In the 1980s and 90s, Dr. Holmgren and colleagues developed the Dukoral™ whole cell-B subunit oral cholera vaccine (OCV), which became the first internationally licensed and World Health Organization (WHO) prequalified OCV. They later shared the formula with researchers in Vietnam and India to facilitate a lower-cost version of the oral cholera vaccine, Shanchol™, which is now prequalified and stockpiled for international use by the WHO. Dr. Holmgren provided technical assistance to manufacturers in India, Vietnam and Korea to produce the vaccine at a much lower cost. Dr. Holmgren’s research has focused primarily on mucosal vaccine development as well as disease and immune
mechanisms of cholera and other mucosal infections. Dr. Holmgren and colleagues first described the AB subunit structure and function of cholera toxin and identified the cholera toxin receptor, then the first-ever structurally defined biologic receptor molecule. They were also the first to describe mucosal immune protection and memory in cholera. Dr. Holmgren and colleagues pioneered the development of methods for measuring mucosal immune responses in humans and, using these methods, defined immune cell migration pathways and described of local oral cholera vaccine mucosal antibody production Support production and use in Vietnam ca 1995: Jan Holmgren, Bernard Ivanoff, Roger after immunization by Glass, Dang Duc Trach & John Clemens different mucosal routes. Dr. Holmgren is a professor of Medical Microbiology at the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden; he is also the founding director of the University of Gothenburg Vaccine Research Institute. Dr. Holmgren and his colleagues continue to research a truly affordable and practical single-formulation OCV for global use, as well as oral vaccines against ETEC diarrhea and H. pylori infection, adjuvants for mucosal vaccines, and novel immunotherapies against allergic and autoimmune diseases. Dr. Holmgren has published more than 600 papers in the fields of microbiology, immunology and vaccinology. Dr. Holmgren has received numerous international and national awards for his research achievements and is a member of several scientific academies. He has served on the boards of the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b); the International Vaccine
Institute (IVI); Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance; and the Wallenberg Foundation, among others, as well as on the scientific advisory groups for numerous universities, international research organizations and companies. He also has Field vaccine studies with icddr,b in had long-standing active Matlab, Bangladesh ca 1985: Ann-Mari Svennerholm (Holmgren’s wife) and locals collaboration with many international research institutions, such as the WHO, Gavi, PATH (USA), icddr,b (Bangladesh), IVI (Korea), and the Sanger Institute (UK), and is engaged in several major European Union programs for vaccination.
About the Albert B. Sabin Gold Medal Award Awarded annually since 1994, the Albert B. Sabin Gold Medal Award recognizes a researcher who has made extraordinary contributions in the field of vaccinology or a complementary field. This year marks the 24th year that Sabin has bestowed the award. We applaud all of our past winners on their contributions to improving health worldwide.
Albert B. Sabin Gold Medal Award Recipients (2017-1994)
2017 Jan Holmgren, M.D., Ph.D.
2016 George R. Siber, M.D.
2015 Roger I. Glass, M.D., Ph.D.
2014 Mathuram Santosham, M.D., M.P.H.
2013 Anne A. Gershon, M.D.
2012 F. Marc LaForce, M.D.
2011 Douglas R. Lowy, M.D.
2011 John T. Schiller, Ph.D.
2010 John D. Clemens, M.D.
2009 Rino Rappuoli, Ph.D.
2008 Ruth S. Nussenzweig, M.D., Ph.D.
2007 Hilary Koprowski, M.D. (d. 2013)
2006 William H. Foege, M.D., M.P.H.
2005 Albert Z. Kapikian, M.D. (d. 2014)
2004 William S. Jordan, Jr., M.D. (d. 2008)
2003 Samuel L. Katz, M.D., D.Sc.
2002 Stanley A. Plotkin, M.D.
2001 John B. Robbins, M.D.
2000 Ciro A. de Quadros, M.D., M.P.H. (d. 2014)
1999 Maj. Gen. Philip K. Russell, M.D. (USA Ret.)
1998 Allen C. Steere, M.D.
1998 Myron M. Levine, M.D., D.T.P.H.
1997 Maurice R. Hilleman Ph.D., D.Sc. (d. 2005)
1996 Joseph L. Melnick, Ph.D. (d. 2001)
1995 Robert M. Chanock, M.D. (d. 2010)
1994 Donald A. Henderson, M.D., M.P.H. (d. 2016)
The Sabin Vaccine Institute gratefully acknowledges those who helped make the 2017 Albert B. Sabin Gold Medal Award Ceremony possible.
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