SK bioscience, a global innovative vaccine and biotech company committed to promoting human health from prevention to cure, announced today Prof. Jan Holmgren of Sweden, and Profs. Barney Graham and Jason McLellan of the United States as the winners of the 2024 International Vaccine Institute-SK Bioscience Park MahnHoon Award.
The IVI-SK bioscience Park MahnHoon Award annually honors up to two individuals and/or groups that have made extraordinary contributions to the discovery, development and delivery of vaccines and the advancement of global health, selected by the IVI Award Selection Committee of 12 world-leading vaccine and health experts.
Prof. Jan Holmgren is a distinguished physician and vaccinologist from the University of Gothenburg, and the developer of the world´s first effective OCV. His research gave fundamental new knowledge that IgA immunity on the gut mucosal surface was crucial for immune protection, which paved the way for oral cholera vaccines.
Moreover, he collaborated with Prof. John D. Clemens, former Director General of IVI, to address cost and delivery limitations for public health use of the original OCV, Dukoral, and they developed an improved OCV ‘Shanchol’ in the 2000s, which offers affordable protection for people in low-income countries, and demonstrated the concept of ‘herd immunity´ as being instrumental in further increasing the protective impact of OCV and preventing and controlling cholera outbreaks.
Prof. Barney Graham, professor of Medicine & Microbiology, Biochemistry, Immunology and Senior Advisor for Global Health Equity at Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, is a renowned immunologist, virologist, and vaccinologist. He is recognized for his groundbreaking work in viral pathogenesis and vaccine development, and for leadership and expertise in structure-based vaccine design, and mRNA technology.
Notably, he has made significant contributions to understanding RSV pathogenesis and immunity, and the application of atomic-level structure, protein-engineering, mRNA delivery technology for making safe and effective vaccines. For his work, he was named one of Time magazine´s 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2021.
Prof. Jason McLellan, professor in the Department of Molecular Biosciences at The University of Texas at Austin, is a leading researcher in viral and bacterial proteins. Partnering with Prof. Graham, He played a crucial role in designing a spike protein to combat the virus.
His pioneering work in understanding protein structure and function and in developing stabilizing modifications for prefusion proteins have played a pivotal role in the creation of vaccines and potential treatments for deadly pathogens afflicting billions of people. Prof. McLellan´s technology is integral to leading COVID-19 vaccines that have saved millions of lives. The proteins his team designed also underpin vaccines against RSV, which is particularly dangerous for children and seniors.
The award, funded by SK bioscience and hosted by IVI, was established in 2021 with the first winners announced in 2022 to honor the legacy of the late Vice Chairman Dr. Park MahnHoon of SK bioscience. The third annual Award Ceremony will take place in Seoul, S. Korea on April 25th.
Dr. Jerome Kim, IVI Director General, said, "IVI joins SK bioscience and the global vaccine community to extend warm congratulations to Prof. Jan Holmgren, and Profs. Barney Graham and Jason McLellan on their selection as recipients of the third IVI-SK bioscience Park MahnHoon Award. Their insights will continue to inform structure-based vaccine design for future vaccines as well."
Jaeyong Ahn, CEO of SK bioscience, said, "I would like to congratulate and thank all the recipients of this year´s Park MahnHoon Award. Inheriting the spirit of our late Vice Chairman Park MahnHoon, who strived to promote global health by developing the typhoid vaccine in collaboration with IVI and other vaccines against infectious diseases, SK bioscience will continue to fulfill its responsibility to humanity."