News Release

Albert Einstein World Award of Science and Jose Vasconcelos World Award of Education

Grant and Award Announcement

Consejo Cultural Mundial

Professor Sir Philip Cohen is Professor of Enzymology, and Deputy Director of the Division of Signal Transduction Therapy (DSTT) at the Medical Research Council's Protein Phosphorylation and Ubiquitylation Unit, University of Dundee, United Kingdom.

His achievements meet the criteria for the ALBERT EINSTEIN World Award of Science most closely in respect to bringing "true benefit and well-being to mankind" in their importance to the development of drugs and treatment with global impact.

The prize is awarded for his 40-year outstanding and continuing scientific career devoted to studying and establishing the profound importance of protein phosphorylation in regulating almost every physiological process.

Professor Sir Philip Cohen is one of the world's most cited scientists in Biology and Biochemistry. His influence can be gauged from the fact that he was the world's second most cited scientist in the fields of Biology and Biochemistry from 1992 to 2003. His visionary dissection of insulin and other major signal transduction pathways defines the molecular basis of hormone action and how such mechanisms malfunction in diseases ranging from diabetes to cancer.

Professor Cohen's pivotal contribution has been to elucidate a major section of the insulin signal transduction-signalling pathway, essentially from scratch, starting at a time when virtually nothing was known about cell signalling. This was to be based on his dissection of protein kinase dependent cascades, which are the major intracellular components of hormonal signalling networks.

Prof. Cohen´s initial idea was to select a physiological end point action of insulin, specifically the mechanism by which insulin stimulated glycogen synthesis, the rate-limiting enzyme of glycogen synthase. He then painstakingly worked backwards towards the top end of the insulin-signalling pathway in the hope that the upward groups would eventually meet those working down from the top. This work has taken over 20 years of intensive research but within the last few years this has now happened and characteristically Philip's laboratory made the key discovery that eventually linked the two halves of this chain.

Professor Cohen has received numerous awards, including the Pfizer Innovation Award for Europe (1999), the Rolf Luft Prize of the Karolinska Institute of Stockholm (2006), the Royal Medal of the Royal Society (2008) and the Medical Research Council's Millennium Medal (2013). Sir Philip Cohen is member of a number of science academies and societies, among them the Academia Europaea.

His research has raised Dundee University to one of the leading academic institutions in his field of this study. Professor Cohen has made decisive contributions to the growth and international reputation of life sciences at the university and to the development of a life sciences cluster in the city, which now accounts for 16% of its economy. In fact, the College of Life Sciences has, for several years, been voted one of the best scientific environments in the world in which to work. Additionally, the Scottish Institute for Cell Signalling was founded in Dundee in 2008.

Throughout his career Philip Cohen has been an exceptional mentor of talented young researchers. More than one hundred PhD students and postdoctoral scientists have trained in his laboratory over thirty-eight years, with the vast majority now working in senior roles as academic research leaders.

The ALBERT EINSTEIN World Award of Science was created as a means of recognition to those men and women who have accomplished scientific and technological achievements which have brought progress to science and ensuing benefit to mankind.

Professor Federico Rosei is Professor and Director of the Centre for Energy, Materials and Telecommunications of the Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique (INRS), University of Quebec, Varennes, Canada.

Rosei is a young scientist with a singularly clear vision of how science and its application can be used as a tool to empower individuals to address some of humanity's most pressing challenges.

The prize is awarded for his impressive career both within the Chemical Sciences and as an advocate of a global approach to societal development through scientific knowledge and innovation, inspiring and educating people.

The JOSÉ VASCONCELOS World Award of Education also recognizes his vision and talent, through which he has built a global network of young researchers, many of whom have obtained important positions both in science and in society.

Since starting his independent career in 2002, he has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to training and mentoring young scientists. He has assembled a diverse, talented research group by drawing over ninety trainees from 25 countries on all six continents, many of whom have returned to their home countries to practise and teach science. Over half of these have received prestigious fellowships and awards from a variety of funding agencies.

In an attempt to bridge the knowledge and science/technology gap with developing countries, Prof. Rosei has launched initiatives to aid materials research in developing countries. He has given Invited and Keynote lectures at conferences in Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, Panama, South Africa, Tanzania, Thailand, Venezuela, Vietnam and Zimbabwe, along with numerous seminars in academic institutions, and has also published works on the subject.

Most recently, Prof. Rosei has materialized his vision for capacity building in developing countries through the establishment of the UNESCO Chair in Materials and Technologies for Energy Conversion, Saving and Storage (MATECSS), of which he will be the inaugural Chairholder at INRS.

The creation of the network of partners that comprise MATECSS, which currently spans Algeria, China, Costa Rica, India, Mexico, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa and Vietnam, bears testimony to Prof. Rosei's strong connections with scientists the world over and demonstrates the reach of his educational influence.

Federico has additionally designed and implemented a graduate course to enhance soft professional skills in young scientists and help them make informed career choices. He has given over 35 Survival Skills lectures in universities worldwide and a dozen invited talks at international conferences.

The popularity of his book "Survival Skills for Scientists" published in 2006 by Imperial College Press (sold out in less than one year, reprinted twice and translated into Japanese in 2008) is a clear indicator of the value of his advice on professional development.

On another front, Prof. Rosei has delivered numerous public lectures on Energy and Society at high schools and other public venues to educate the public at large on issues of sustainability, once again reflecting his passion for education, knowledge sharing and talent inspiration at all levels.

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The 2014 JOSÉ VASCONCELOS World Award of Education is made every other year to a person who has stood out in the field of education, as a teacher or policy shaper, whose scope of influence has been outstanding, educating humanity towards a culture of global understanding while encouraging respect for all individuals.

The World Cultural Council is an international organization founded in 1981, that every year acknowledges individuals or institutions that have made outstanding achievements in science, education and the arts, by means of its awards.

The final objective is to increase the efficient and positive use of knowledge and to promote fraternity among people, nations and governments, looking for true understanding among all, based on respect for ideology, opinion, gender, religion and race.

The World Cultural Council is composed of a Directive Board and an Interdisciplinary Committee made up of eminent figures from science, education and the arts; since its foundation there have been several Nobel laureates among its members.

World Cultural Council

Public Relations Department

http://www.consejoculturalmundial.org


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