Chen Award
Professor Yuan-Tsong (Y-T) Chen and Mrs. Alice Der-Shan Chen were both originally from Taiwan and have been committed to biomedical research for over 30 years. They recognise the tremendous impact that genetics and genomics have had on the improvement of health and treatment of diseases and wish to establish the Chen Award to celebrate research accomplishments in Human Genetics and Genomics in Asia Pacific. Professor Chen received his MD degree from National Taiwan University (Taipei) and a PhD from Columbia University (USA). He is currently a Distinguished Research Fellow and Director of the Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taiwan, and Professor of Pediatrics and Genetics at Duke University Medical Center (USA).
Professor Chen is a physician/scientist, recognised for his work on human genetic disorders. His translational research leads to the development of now standard therapies for two devastating inherited metabolic diseases: a simple and effective cornstarch therapy for severe hypoglycemia in glycogen storage diseases and an enzyme replacement therapy, the first ever treatment, for a debilitating, progressive and often fatal myopathy called Pompe disease. Professor Chen has also identified the genetic basis of and developed DNA-based diagnosis for several major heritable diseases, and more recently, his team in Taiwan has uncovered genes/SNPs associated with drug-induced Stevens-Johnson syndrome and warfarin sensitivity.
His latest pharmacogenomic studies of adverse drug reactions paved the way for personalised medicine by preventing drug toxicity with a gene test. Professor Chen is an elected member of Academia Sinica and of the Academy Sciences for the Developing World.
Chen Award for Distinguished Academic Achievement in Human Genetic and Genomic Research (US$10,000 / 1 Awardee)
This award is to celebrate the achievement of a biomedical scientist:
- who has performed extraordinary work in biomedical sciences which has changed the thinking in the human genomics field; and/or
- who has uncovered new insights which brought forth new therapies; and/or
- whose lifetime contribution has significantly impacted the Asia-Pacific region
The award recipient will be given a monetary award of US$10,000 and a plaque or medal. He/She will be invited to attend the award presentation ceremony and present a plenary lecture in conjunction with the annual Human Genome Organisation (HUGO) – Human Genome Meeting.
Chen Award of Excellence (US$5,000 / 2 Awardees)
This award is giving out in recognition of young scientists, one residing outside Asia and one residing in Asia, who have made significant contributions to the field during their early career years (normally within 15 years from the time of receiving his/her highest earned degree, in the year of the award) and:
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who has performed extraordinary work in biomedical sciences which has changed the thinking in the human genomics field; and/or
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who has uncovered new insights which brought forth new therapies; and/or
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who is from the Asia-Pacific region and/or whose contributions have significantly impacted the Asia-Pacific region
The award recipient will be given a monetary award of US$5,000 and a plaque. He/She will be invited to attend the award presentation ceremony and present a lecture in conjunction with the annual Human Genome Organisation (HUGO) – Human Genome Meeting.
The first award was given out in 2010.
View list of Chen Award Recipients here.
The review committee is made up of top scientists, thought-leaders and/or government officials from around the world.
Stylianos Antonarakis
Professor and Chairman, University of Geneva Medical School, Switzerland
Karen B. Avraham
Professor and Vice Dean, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Israel
Piero Carninci
Deputy Director, Center for Life Science Technologies, RIKEN, Japan
Charles Lee
Director, The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine, USA
Edison Liu
President and CEO, The Jackson Laboratory, USA
Juergen Reichardt
Vice Chancellor of Research, Yachay Tech University, Ecuador
Michael Snyder
Professor, Stanford University
Click to download the Nomination Form.
Chen Award for Distinguished Academic Achievement in Human Genetic and Genomic Research
Applicants for this award should be actively engaged in human genetic and genomic research. Applications must reach the HUGO office by the published deadline. The award will be given out at the HUGO Human Genome Meeting (held annually).
- There is no age limit for the candidates reviewed in this category;
- Nominations must be submitted with a completed nomination form, as well as the candidate's curriculum vitae of no more than two A4 pages including a list of recent publications
Chen Award of Excellence
Applicants for this award should be actively engaged in human genetic and genomic research. Applications must reach the HUGO office by the published deadline. The award will be given out at the HUGO Human Genome Meeting (held annually).
- Nominations must be submitted with a completed nomination form, as well as the candidate's curriculum vitae of no more than two A4 pages including a list of recent publications