Director-General of the Department of Information joined the press conference to announce the Prince Mahidol Award 2021 Laureates. This year, the Prince Mahidol Award 2021 in the field of Medicine is awarded to Associate Professor Katalin Karikó, Ph.D. from Hungary / the United States, Professor Drew Weissman, M.D., Ph.D. from the United States, and Professor Pieter Cullis, Ph.D. from Canada.

On 15 November 2021, the Prince Mahidol Award Foundation under the Royal Patronage (PMAF) held a joint press conference at Siriraj Hospital, Bangkok,to announce the Prince Mahidol Award 2021 Laureates in the field of Medicine. Present at the press conference were Mr. Tanee Sangrat, Director-General of the Department of Information, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Thailand, in the capacity as the Chair of the PMAF Public Relations Sub-Committee, Professor  Dr. Prasith Wattanapa, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, in the capacity of Vice President of the PMAF, Professor Supat Vanichyakarn, Secretary-General of the PMAF, Professor Vicharn Panich, Chair of the International Awards Committee, H.E. Mrs. Sarah Taylor Ambassador of Canada to Thailand, Ms. Anna Bálint – Charge d’Affaires a.i. and Deputy Head of Mission of the embassy of Hungary to Thailand, and Mr Michael Heath, Chargé d’ Affaires, a.i., Embassy of the United States of America to Thailand.

This year, the Prince Mahidol Award in the field of Medicine is awarded to Associate Professor Katalin Karikó, Ph.D. from Hungary / the United States, Professor Drew Weissman, M.D., Ph.D. from the United States, and Professor Pieter Cullis, Ph.D. from Canada.

Assoc. Prof. Karikó and Prof. Weissman have been working side by side in developing mRNA technology and its applications in medicine and using mRNA technology to develop COVID-19 mRNA vaccine. They have also played an important role in the rapid development of COVID-19 mRNA vaccine by the new technology. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Karikó and Prof. Weissman has led to the rapid availability of COVID-19 mRNA vaccine, which has saved millions of lives and become an important tool for the control of COVID-19 pandemic around the world.

Prof. Cullis is a pioneer in lipid nanoparticles, which have been used for various applications in medicine. This technique has been successfully deployed to develop the delivery system of mRNA vaccines, which are being used to control the COVID-19 pandemic. He not only made COVID-19 mRNA vaccines possible but has also created a way to safely deliver nucleic acid into cells, which opened up possibilities for various applications of nucleic acid technology for prevention and treatment of many other diseases in the future.