Ploegh wins Belgian health prize
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (May 11, 2006) — Whitehead Member
Hidde
Ploegh has been awarded the 2006 Interbrew-Baillet
Latour Health Prize, worth 150,000 euros. It is the
largest scientific prize awarded in Belgium. Sponsored
by the InBev-Baillet Latour Fund, the award is given
annually to one or two scientists in order “to
recognize the merits of a person whose work has contributed
prominently to the improvement of human health.”
According to a statement released by the foundation,
Ploegh “has made fundamental discoveries on how
abnormal proteins are broken down in cells and how viruses
manipulate these processes to gain advantage. His work
has changed our understanding of how normal cells eliminate
newly made proteins that are incorrectly folded, and
of how viruses evade immune responses.”
The prize was presented to Ploegh in Brussels on May
6 by Princess Mathilde.
One of the world’s leading researchers in immune
system behavior, Ploegh studies the various tactics
that viruses employ to evade our immune responses, and
the ways in which our immune system distinguishes friend
from foe. His findings have implications for both vaccine
and drug development.
Among his achievements, in 2002 Ploegh and his laboratory
reported a new mechanism by which dendritic cells sense
the presence of antigens and instruct the immune response.
Using fluorescent imaging, the researchers could watch
the dentritic cell carry out its task in real time.
Prior to Whitehead, Ploegh was Professor of Pathology
at the Harvard Medical School, where he headed the school’s
immunology program from 1997 until 2005. Prior to that,
Ploegh was a Professor of Biology at MIT, working in
the Center for Cancer Research.
The Artois-Baillet Latour Foundation was established
in 1974 by Alfred de Baillet Latour. Between 1979 and
1999, the health prize was awarded bi-annually. Since
1999 it has been awarded each year. Hidde Ploegh is
the twenty-first recipient.
For more information on the foundation, visit http://www.inbev-baillet-latour.be/en/home.asp.
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