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Reinhold Ganz studied medicine in Kiel, Germany and Innsbruck, Austria between 1958-1964, and earned his M.D. from the University of Freiburg in 1964. He then completed his residencies in Germany and Switzerland. He joined the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at the University of Bern in the early 1970’s and became a Professor and the Chair of the Department from 1981 to 2004. He is currently a Professor Emeritus at the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at the University of Bern and Consultant for Joint Preserving Hip Surgery in Bern and the University of Torino, Italy.

Professor Ganz is one of the most accomplished orthopedics and hip surgeons in the world. He has influenced a whole generation of orthopedic surgeons through his research, surgical innovations, and teaching. He led the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at Bern University for nearly a quarter of a century during which he initiated and led studies into the hip conditions known to culminate in the development of osteoarthritis. He investigated the problem of hip dysplasia, performed pioneering research into the vascular supply of the femoral head, and devised a new surgical strategy – now known as the Bernese Periacetabular Osteotomy – that allowed correction of the majority of acetabular deficiencies with accuracy, predictability, and acceptable morbidity, and trained hundreds of hip surgeons to safely carry out the procedure. He also recognized the phenomenon of hip impingement as a cause of osteoarthritis and devised surgical strategies to treat the pre-arthritic hip, thereby preventing or delaying the progression of frank osteoarthritis. His systemic pursuit of an understanding of these conditions established him as a leader of conservative hip surgery that is non-arthroplasty surgery.

Professor Ganz authored over 450 publications and held many visiting professorships and guest lectureships in different universities and institutions. His contributions were recognized by many awards and prizes, including the Prix Mondial Nessim HABIF de Chirurgie of the University of Geneva, the Arthur Steindler Award of the Orthopedic Research Society, the Pauwels Medal of the German Society for Orthopedics and Orthopedic Surgery (DGOOC) and the Medal of Honor of the German Pediatric Orthopedic Association. He is a Member of the Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences, an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, an Honorary Trustee of the Osteoarthritis/ASIF Foundation, and an Honorary Member of the American Hip Society, the French Society of Orthopedic Surgery and Traumatology (S.O.F.C.O.T.), and the USA Southern Orthopedic Association and Honorary Founding Member of the Mexican Hip Society. He led the Foundation for the Advancement of Orthopedic Surgery (Synos) for 11 years and the AO/ASIF Foundation for 10 years, and has been recently elected President of the International Hip Society. He is a member of editorial boards and reviewer of major medical journals in his field.

This biography was written in the year the prize was awarded.

Johanne Martel-Pelletier earned her B.Sc. in Molecular Biology from Université du Québec à Montréal in 1973, followed by her M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Physiology from the University of Montreal, in 1975 and 1979, respectively. She completed her training first in biophysics at the University of Montreal in 1979, then in rheumatology at the University of Miami in 1981. She was appointed as anAssistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Montreal in 1981 then became an Associate Professor in 1989 and a full Professor in 1995. She is the Co-Director of the Osteoarthritis Research Unit at the Notre-Dame Hospital of the University of Montreal Hospital Center, which she co-founded with Jean-Pierre Pelletier in 1981.

She is an active member of several editorial boards and committees and is a highly respected reviewer for many rheumatology and connective tissue journals, and governmental and private research funding agencies.

In recognition of her excellence in osteoarthritis research, Professor Johanne Martel-Pelletier was awarded a number of fellowships and prizes including ILAR Rheumatology Prize, the International Carol-Nachman Award for Rheumatology, Personality of the Week of La Presse, Montreal in 2000, and the EULAR Scientific Award for Basic Research in Osteoarthritis.

She authored roughly 240 journal articles, 26 books or book chapters, 37 reviews or editorials and 530 abstracts, and has given 155 invited lectures.

This biography was written in the year the prize was awarded.

Jean-Pierre Pelletier received his M.D. from the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Montreal in Quebec in 1974. He completed his residencies in internal medicine and rheumatology at Hôtel-Dieu Hospital, the University of Montreal, and Montreal General Hospital at McGill University (1974-1979), followed by two years as a research fellow in rheumatology at the University of Miami. He joined the University of Montreal as Assistant Professor in 1981 and became a full Professor in 1992. He is the Head of the Arthritis Division, and the Director of the Osteoarthritis Research Unit and the Musculoskeletal Diseases Program at the University of Montreal Hospital Research Center (CHUM).

Professor Jean-Pierre Pelletier is a prolific author, with 249 over 300 peer-reviewed papers, 29 books or book chapters, 37 reviews or editorials and 532 abstracts, in addition to 242 invited lectures.

Professor Jean-Pierre Pelletier received several awards and prizes including: Rheumatology Prize of the International League of Associations for Rheumatology (ILAR), Distinguished Investigator Award of the Canadian Rheumatology Association, Personality of the Week of La Presse, Montreal in 2000, Scientific Award for Basic Research in Osteoarthritis from the European League Against Rheumatism, Leadership and Distinction in the Medical Field Award from the University of Montreal Hospital Center Foundation, and the International Carol-Nachman Award for Rheumatology.

He is a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Sciences, founding member of the Global Arthritis Research Network, former President of the Osteoarthritis Research Society International, Chairman of the RDU Council of the Arthritis Society, and President of the Examination Committee (Rheumatology) of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. He is also an editor of the International Journal of Rheumatology, associate/guest editor of Osteoarthritis and Cartilage, section editor of Current Opinions in Rheumatology and Modern Therapeutics in Rheumatic Diseases, a member of the advisory committee of the Japanese Journal of Rheumatology and editorial committee of La Clinician and editor of the book Osteoarthritis: Clinical and Experimental Aspects..

This biography was written in the year the prize was awarded.

James Thomson received his B.A. in biophysics from the University of Illinois in 1981, and earned two doctorate degrees, one in veterinary medicine and one in molecular biology, from the University of Pennsylvania and the Wistar Institute in 1985 and 1988, respectively. He spent the following two years as a postdoctoral research fellow in the Primate In Vitro Fertilization and Experimental Embryology Laboratory at the Oregon National Primate Research Center. From 1991-1994, he completed a residency in veterinary pathology at the Wisconsin Regional Primate Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Professor Thomson is currently the Director of Regenerative Biology at the Morgridge Institute for Research in Madison, Wisconsin, a Professor of Anatomy, a John D. MacArthur Professor at the University of Wisconsin, and a professor in the Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Thomson began his pioneering stem cell research as a graduate student, then continued his research at his own laboratory at the University of Wisconsin, working initially with mouse and monkey embryos. In 1998, he harvested stem cells for the first time from human embryos. Stem cells are “all-purpose” cells that arise within a few days of embryonic life, can divide without limit and are capable of turning into any of the body’s 220 cell types. Hence, they offer a huge potential for further understanding human development and the treatment of complex diseases such as diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and cancer. However, since embryos were inevitably destroyed during the process of harvesting embryonic stem cells, Thomson’s discovery triggered a long and bitter controversy among scientists, politicians, and religious groups, among others. The turning point in the debate came at the hands of both Thomson and Yamanaka. In November 2007, both Thomson and Shinya Yamanaka, independently, made the astounding discovery of a new technique whereby adult human skin cells can be coaxed to revert into cells that looked and acted very much like embryonic stem cells but without ever using a human embryo. The technique, which involved adding just four genes to adult skin cells, not only calmed the furor regarding the bioethics of stem cell research but also paved the way for a surge of new stem cell research worldwide.

Professor Thomson’s achievements have been recognized by several awards and honors including membership of the National Academy of Science, American Academy of Achievements Golden Plate Award, Hall of Fame Award for Scientific Achievements, Wilson S. Stone Memorial Award for Biomedical Research and Lois Pope Award Annual LIFE International Research Award 2002. In 2001, he was featured on the cover of Time Magazine as one of 18 of “America’s Best in Science and Medicine.” He was also featured in Madison Magazine as “Man of the Year” and in People Magazine as “One of the most intriguing people of 2001.” In 2007, many magazines, including: “Science,” “Nature”, “Time”, “USA Today”, and the “Independent” also listed his work as one of the most significant scientific advances of the year. In 2008, Times Magazine named him one of the “100 Most Influential People in the World”, while his derivation of human induced pluripotent stem cells was highlighted in “Science” magazine’s scientific breakthrough of the year. Professor Thomson has published more than 120 papers and holds 14 patents. He is also a founder and the Chief Scientific Officer of Cellular Dynamics International Company, which produces derivatives of human induced pluripotent stem cells for drug discovery and toxicity testing.

This biography was written in the year the prize was awarded.

Shinya Yamanaka received his M.D. at Kobe University School of Medicine in 1987 and Ph.D. at Osaka University Graduate School Division of Medicine in 1993. He completed a residency in orthopedic surgery at the National Osaka Hospital in 1987-1989 and a postdoctoral fellowship at the Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Disease in San Francisco, U.S.A. in 1996. He is currently the Director of the Center for Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Research and Application (CiRA) at Kyoto University in Japan, a Professor at the Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences at Kyoto University, a Senior Investigator in stem cell biology at the Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Disease in San Francisco, and a Professor of Anatomy at the University of California, San Francisco.

Professor Yamanaka’s distinguished career in stem cell research has been crowned by his discovery reported in 2006 that the addition of only four genes could revert adult mouse skin cells back to embryonic-like stem cells. These induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS), as they are now known, could turn into all of the different cell types of the body and appeared to have the similar properties as embryonic stem cells without the need for destroying an embryo, thus circumventing many ethical concerns regarding stem cell research. The following year, Professors Yamanaka and James Thomson independently reported that they succeeded in reprogramming human adult skin cells into iPS cells. Yamanaka’s landmark discoveries together with those of Thomson’s have led to a dramatic surge in research on stem cell biology. Professor Yamanaka and his group are currently actively engaged in iPS cell research towards regenerative medicine and as a research tool for drug discovery.

Professor Yamanaka’s outstanding contributions to stem cell research have been recognized by numerous awards including: Meyenburg Cancer Research award in 2007, Yamazaki-Teiichi Prize in Biological Science and Technology in 2008; Robert Koch Prize in 2008; Shaw Prize in Life Science and Medicine in 2008; Sankyo Takamine Memorial Award in 2008; Lifetime Scientific Achievement Award of the American Skin Association in 2008; Lewis S. Rosenstiel Award for Distinguished Work in Basic Medical Research in 2009; Gairdner Foundation International Award in 2009; Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research in 2009; March of Dimes Prize in Developmental Biology in 2010; Kyoto Prize in Biotechnology and medical technology in 2010, and the Balzan Prize in 2010. In 2007, Professor Yamanaka was recognized by the Time magazine as a “Person Who Mattered” and in 2008, he was also listed by the Time as one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

This biography was written in the year the prize was awarded.

Professor Berkowitz received his B.A. with a major in Philosophy from Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. in 1961 and his M.D. from New York University in 1965. He pursued postgraduate training for one year at Kings County Medical Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. in 1965-1966 followed by a three-year residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Cornell University Medical Center and New York Hospital in 1968-1971. In 1972, he obtained an M.P.H. from the School of Hygiene and Public Health at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD. In between his postgraduate studies, he served as a Peace Corps physician in Mauritania and Nigeria, and as a consultant for Family Planning International Assistance in Kenya, Ethiopia, and Tanzania.

Professor Berkowitz’s academic career started in 1974, first as an Assistant Professor in 1974-1979, then as an Associate Professor in 1979-1982 of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Public Health at Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, CT. For the next 18 years, he was a Professor and the Chairman of the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Science and the Director of the Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, N.Y. In 2004, he moved to Columbia University Medical Center in New York, where he is currently a Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the Director of the Obstetrics and Gynecology Residency Program and Director of Outreach and Quality Improvement in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Professor Berkowitz is board certified in Obstetrics and Gynecology and at the Obstetrics and Gynecology Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine. He is a Fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine. He has also been an examiner for the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology in both general Obstetrics and Gynecology and Maternal-Fetal Medicine for over 20 years. He founded the International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology, was a former Council member of the American Gynecological and Obstetrical Society, and former President of the New York Obstetrical Society, in addition to his memberships of several other Obstetrical and Gynecological organizations.

Professor Berkowitz is an internationally recognized authority in fetal diagnosis and therapy. He is a pioneer in obstetrical ultrasound and has developed several procedures for the diagnosis and in utero treatment of a variety of fetal diseases, with special expertise in the management of high order multiple pregnancies. 

Professor Berkowitz authored over 200 articles, 30 book chapters, and 120 conference abstracts, and edited seven books. His contributions have been recognized by several teaching and memorial awards, invited lectureships, visiting professorships in addition to his election to the editorial boards of five Obstetrics and Gynecology journals.

This biography was written in the year the prize was awarded.

James Bussel \ received his B.S. (magna cum laude) from Yale University in 1971 and his M.D. from Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1975. He served as an intern in pediatrics for one year in 1975-1976 and completed his residency in pediatrics at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital in Ohio in 1976-1978, then returned to New York City to undertake a joint fellowship in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and New York-Presbyterian Hospital where he was Chief Fellow in 1980-1981. He is board certified in Pediatrics and in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology.

Professor Bussel’s academic pursuit in pediatrics spans more than three decades, first as an instructor, then an Assistant Professor and then an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Cornell University College of Medicine in New York. From 2000, he became a Professor of Pediatrics in Obstetrics and Gynecology and a Professor of Pediatrics in Medicine at Weill Medical College of Cornell University. He is also the Director of Platelets Disorders Center at Weill Medical College since 2001. From 1981, Professor Bussel has also taken hospital positions at New York Presbyterian Hospital, Memorial Hospital for Cancer and Allied Diseases, Lenox Hill Hospital, and New York Hospital. He also serves on the Board of Medical Advisors of the Platelet Disorders Support Association.

Professor Bussel has published over 200 papers and several chapters in hematology books. His contributions have been recognized by several honors in addition to visiting professorships and invited lectureships, in his field of specialization. He was also voted several times as one of New York’s best doctors. He is a member of the International Society of Thrombosis and Hemostasis, Society for Pediatric Research, American Society of Hematology, Society of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology and New York County Medical Society, and former member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Federation of Clinical Research and Society for the Study of Blood. He is also a member of the editorial board of the British Journal of Hematology, American Journal of Hematology, American Journal of Perinatal Medicine and Hematology.

This biography was written in the year the prize was awarded.

Jeffrey Friedman attended the Six-Year Medical Program at Albany Medical College in Albany, N.Y., obtaining a B.S. (magna cum laude) from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1973 and an M.D. from Albany Medical College at Union University in 1977. After completing residencies as a categorical intern in 1977-1978, an assistant resident in 1978-1979, and a chief resident in 1979-1980 in the Department of Medicine at Albany Medical Center Hospital in Albany, N.Y., and serving for one year as a post-graduate fellow at Cornell University Medical College in 1980-1981, he came to Rockefeller University as a post-graduate fellow and an associate physician in 1980-1985. He received his Ph.D. in 1986 and was appointed an Assistant Professor in 1986-1991 at the same University. He is currently a full Professor at Rockefeller University, an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in New York, the Marilyn M. Simpson professor, and the Director of the Star Center for Human Genetics at Rockefeller.

Professor Friedman’s achievements have been recognized by numerous awards and honors, including Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research, Shaw Prize, Keio Medical Science Prize, Danone International Prize for Nutrition, Gairdner Foundation International Award, Passano Foundation Award, Heinrich Wieland Prize, Banting Lecture Award, Jesse Stevenson Kovalenko Medal, Endocrinology Transatlantic Medal and Honorary Doctorate in Medical Genetics from Maastricht University. He is a member of the National Academy of Science and its Institute of Medicine, an Associate Member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO), and a Foreign Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. He was listed in “Best of Science” by Times Magazine both in 1994 and 1995 and was also named Thomson Reuters Citation Laureate in 2010. Professor Friedman is also associate and founding editor of Cell Metabolism.

This biography was written in the year the prize was awarded.

Douglas Coleman Completed his elementary and secondary school education in Stratford, after which he joined McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, where he obtained a B.Sc. in Chemistry in 1954, then attended the University of Wisconsin, where he obtained his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Biochemistry in 1956 and 1958, respectively. He served as a Research Assistant at the University of Wisconsin in 1954-1957 and as an E.I. Dupont de Nemours Fellow in 1957-1958. He joined the Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, ME, where he spent his entire career rising from an Associate Staff Scientist in 1958 to a Senior Staff Scientist in 1968. He also served as an Assistant Director for Research in 1969-1970 and an Interim Director in 1975-1976. He was also a consultant to the National Health Institutes, serving on the Metabolism Study Section in 1972-1974 and was frequently consulted on various other special study sections involving genetic diabetes, obesity, and nutrition. He also served as a Visiting Professor at the University of Geneva in 1979-1980. Upon his retirement in 1991, he was appointed a Senior Staff Scientist Emeritus at Jackson.

Following his retirement, Professor Coleman became actively interested in forest management, land protection and conservation and served ​​in the Frenchman Bay Conservatory as the Treasurer in 1993-1994, the President in 1994-1997, and the Director in 1992-1998. He was also a member of the Planning Board of the Town of Lamoine for ten years through 1993-2003. 

Professor Coleman received several prestigious awards and honors, including the Claude Bernard Medal by the European Diabetes Foundation in 1977, the Outstanding Forest Stewardship Award in 1998, the Distinguished Alumni Award in Science by McMaster University in 1999, the Gairdner International Award in 2005, the Shaw Prize in 2009, and the Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award,. He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1991, and was awarded an Honorary D.Sc. from Louisiana State University in 2005 and an Honorary D.Sc. from McMaster University in 2006. He was a member of the American Association of Biological Chemists.

This biography was written in the year the prize was awarded.

Attillio Maseri received his MD with honors from Padua University Medical School in 1960, then obtained postgraduate degrees in Cardiology and Nuclear Medicine from the University of Pisa in 1963 and 1968, respectively. His academic career spanned more than 30 years. After completing his fellowships at Pisa, Johns Hopkins, and Columbia universities, he became Head of the Coronary Research Group at the University of Pisa (1967-1979). From 1979 to 1991, he was appointed a Sir John McMichael Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine at the Royal Postgraduate Medical School, and a Director of Cardiology at Hammersmith Hospital in London. For the following ten years, he served as a Professor of Cardiology at the Catholic University of Rome.

Professor Maseri was a clinical investigator with a remarkable track record of innovative research. His interests include the application of molecular biology, differential gene expression profiling, and clinical cardiovascular research such as molecular mechanisms of coronary instability and molecular mechanisms of negative and positive ventricular remodeling. By changing traditional paradigms, he played an important role in shaping new diagnostic techniques in pathophysiologic thinking. Both his research and clinical investigations contributed significantly to the opening of new avenues of research and patient management in the field of ischemic heart disease. He published more than 550 papers in international journals, authored and co-authored several books and mentored many cardiologists and cardio-thoracic physicians. During his career, he undertook several visiting professorships at several universities including Vanderbilt University in Nashville and Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. He also had an impressive list of invited lectureships.

Professor Maseri’s outstanding contributions were recognized by several awards and honors. He was a Lifetime Member of the Johns Hopkins Society of Scholars, an Honorary Fellow of the Council on Clinical Cardiology, Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, and Fellow of the American College of Cardiology. He was also the recipient of the First George von Hevesy Prize for Nuclear Medicine (Tokyo) and James B Herrick Award of the American Heart Association.

This biography was written in the year the prize was awarded.