HUGO African prize is supported by generous donation from Inqaba Biotechnical Industries.

The award was first given out in 2015 and HUGO has been able to connect with numerous inspiring African scientists. The HUGO African prize is aligned with HUGO’s mission to promote fundamental research worldwide, at all levels, including low-and-middle-income countries, and to foster scientific exchange in genomics with a particular emphasis on scientifically developing and emerging countries.

Criteria for the Award:

• who has performed extraordinary work in biomedical sciences which has changed the thinking in the field where important technology was developed; and/or
• who has uncovered new insights which brought forth new therapies; and/or
• whose lifetime contribution has significantly impact the African region and who has primary affiliation in Africa

The award recipient will receive a sponsorship of up to USD 5,000 to our annual Human Genome Organisation (HUGO) – Human Genome Meeting with an economic flight, accommodation, registration fee and VISA application paid for. The award recipient will also be presented with a plaque or medal and any remaining of the USD 5,000 award will be in the form of a standing order for products and services from Inqaba Biotechnical Industries. He/She will be invited to attend the award presentation ceremony and present a plenary lecture in conjunction with the Human Genome Meeting.

*PAST HUGO AFRICAN PRIZE WINNERS

• 2024: Leon Mutesa, University of Rwanda, Rwanda
• 2023: Ambroise Wonkam, University of Cape Town, South Africa
• 2020: Nikki Tiffin, University of Cape Town, South Africa
• 2019: Christian Happi, African Center of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases (ACEGID), Redeemer’s University, Nigeria
• 2018: Collen Masimirembwa, African Institute of Biomedical Science and Technology, Zimbabwe
• 2017: Samia Temtamy, National Research Center, Egypt
• 2016: Raj Ramesar, University of Cape Town, South Africa
• 2015: Alan Christoffels, South African National Bioinformatics Institute (SANBI), South Africa

The Faculty of Scholars will serve as the African Prize Reviewing Committee.

Stylianos Antonarakis

Professor and Chairman, University of Geneva Medical School, Switzerland

Kristen Ardlie

Director, Broad Institute, US

Walter Bodmer

Professor, University of Oxford, UK

Anthony Brookes 

Professor, Leicester University, UK

Aravinda Chakravarti

Professor, New York University, US

Garry Cutting

Professor, Johns Hopkins University, US

Johan Dunnen

Professor, Leiden University, Netherlands

Marc Greenblatt

Professor, University of Vermont Medical Center, US

Alfredo Hidalgo Miranda

Director of Research, INMEGEN, Mexico

Bartha Knoppers

Professor, McGill University, Canada

Tuuli Lappalainen

Professor, New York Genome Center, US

Charles Lee

Director and Professor, The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine, US

Edison Liu

Professor and President Emeritus, The Jackson Laboratory, US

Raj Ramesar

Professor, University of Cape Town, South Africa

Michael Snyder

Professor, Stanford University, US

Sarah Teichmann

Professor, Wellcome Sanger Institute, UK

David Valle

Professor, Johns Hopkins University, US

Ingrid Winship

Professor, University of Melbourne, Australia

Ambroise Wonkam

Professor, University of Cape Town, South Africa