December 7, 2024 – The VinFuture Foundation has honored four scientific breakthroughs in 2024. The Grand Prize worth $3 million was awarded for “Breakthrough contributions to advancing the advancement of deep learning”. Three VinFuture Special Prizes were awarded for “Innovation to improve oral cholera vaccines in developing countries”, “Advances in polymer material design and methods for biomedical applications” and “Development of CAR T cell therapy to treat cancer and other diseases”.
The 2024 VinFuture Prize Award Ceremony was broadcast live on VTV1 – National Television. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh attended and delivered a speech, along with leaders of central ministries, branches of Vietnam and representatives of embassies, international organizations and famous scientists from all over the world.
The four winning projects were selected from an impressive field of nearly 1,500 nominations from more than 80 countries and regions around the world. These groundbreaking achievements have the potential to significantly impact the present and future of humanity, especially in important areas such as computer science, public and global health, materials science and regenerative medicine. These innovations not only provide solutions to common global challenges, but also play a pivotal role in shaping the future of humanity.
With the potential for exponential growth, this year’s VinFuture Prize winners exemplify the spirit of “resilient rebound.” By pushing the boundaries of science and technology, these breakthroughs open up new directions and expand the possibilities of application.
The VinFuture 2024 Main Prize is awarded to five scientists: Professor Yoshua Bengio and Professor Geoffrey E. Hinton, Mr. Jen-Hsun Huang, Professor Yann LeCun and Professor Fei-Fei Li for their groundbreaking contributions to advancing the advancement of deep learning.
Advances in deep learning have ushered in a disruptive era of technological innovation, enabling machines to learn from massive amounts of data and achieve unprecedented accuracy in tasks such as image recognition, natural language processing, and decision making.
Professors Geoff E. Hinton, Yann LeCun, and Yoshua Bengio made groundbreaking contributions to neural networks and deep learning algorithms, while Jen-Hsun Huang pioneered the accelerated computing platforms that enabled the modern era of artificial intelligence (AI) computing. Professor Fei-Fei Li's creation of the ImageNet dataset further advanced advances in image recognition systems, making it possible to train models at scale.
Since 2012, deep learning has become a key tool driving major advances in areas such as healthcare, automation, and financial services, shaping future innovation and growth.
In addition to the 2024 Main Prize, the VinFuture Foundation also awards 3 Special Prizes, each worth 500,000 USD, to Scientists researching new fields, Female Scientists, and Scientists from developing countries.
The VinFuture 2024 Special Prize for Scientists researching new fields was awarded to Professor Zelig Eshhar (Israel), Professor Carl H. June and Professor Michel Sadelain (USA) for the development of CAR T cell therapy to treat cancer and other diseases.
Professor Zelig Eshhar ’s groundbreaking work has revolutionized cancer treatment by developing CAR T-cell therapy, saving lives and fueling a boom in the biopharmaceutical industry. This innovation offers hope for new medical applications and affordable treatments for people around the world.
Professors Carl H. June and Michel Sadelain have continued to advance CAR T-cell therapy, helping to effectively treat cancers and autoimmune diseases that do not respond to conventional therapies. Their pioneering work led to the approval by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the first CAR T-cell therapy in 2017 for the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia in children and adolescents. This therapy is currently being considered for clinical care around the world.
The VinFuture 2024 Special Prize for Scientists from Developing Countries was awarded to Dr. Firdausi Qadri (Bangladesh) for his innovation in improving oral cholera vaccines in developing countries.
Dr. Firdausi Qadri has played a key role in improving vaccination against cholera, a severe diarrheal disease caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae, which occurs after ingestion of contaminated food or water and remains a major public health concern, especially in areas with poor sanitation and limited access to clean water.
At the International Center for Diarrheal Disease Research (ICDDR), Bangladesh, Dr. Firdausi Qadri conducted large-scale clinical studies using a live attenuated vaccine strain from Vietnam. The study concluded that this low-cost vaccine is effective, safe, and effective when administered as a single dose. He has promoted the implementation of large-scale vaccination campaigns in Bangladesh and other low-income countries to prevent outbreaks. Early prevention of cholera outbreaks enhances health security and prevents the spread of disease globally.
The VinFuture 2024 Special Prize for Female Scientists was awarded to Professor Kristi S. Anseth (USA) for advances in polymer material design and methods for biomedical applications.
Professor Kristi Anseth has pioneered the development of biomaterial-based cell culture systems to decode extracellular matrix (ECM) signals that regulate tissue growth, maintenance, and regeneration. She studies how cells communicate with the ECM, leading to the design of biomaterials that can regenerate tissue, treat disease states, and screen drugs. She combines molecular and cell biology with engineering and mathematics to create novel tissue replacement biomaterials that can restore, maintain, or improve tissue function.
Commenting on the results of the VinFuture Prize 2024, Professor Richard Henry Friend, Chairman of the VinFuture Prize Council, said: “All of this year’s Prize winners have made world-changing advances, bringing powerful new tools. The Main Prize recognized unprecedented advances in AI, honoring three factors that have collectively driven this success: fundamental advances in deep learning, datasets, and silicon graphics processing unit (GPU) hardware. This year’s three Special Prizes celebrate advances in three very different areas of healthcare. These prizes illustrate the breadth of science and technology that can deliver practical and powerful solutions. The vision of the VinFuture Prize Founders – to celebrate the potential of discovery and innovation to truly benefit human life – is clearly demonstrated by this year’s winning works.”
With the success of 4 consecutive seasons, the VinFuture Prize has increasingly affirmed its position as one of the most prestigious science and technology awards in the world. In particular, more and more VinFuture Prize winners continue to be honored at prestigious international awards around the world. This fact shows the vision and pioneering spirit of VinFuture. The VinFuture Foundation is proud to continue its mission of serving humanity and inspiring innovation in Vietnamese science and technology, contributing to promoting sustainable development and prosperity for people around the world.
Hashtag: #VinFuture
The publisher is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
Information about VinFuture Prize
The VinFuture Prize is the core activity of the VinFuture Foundation, a non-profit organization established on International Human Solidarity Day on December 20, 2020, co-founded by billionaire Pham Nhat Vuong and his wife, Mrs. Pham Thu Huong. The VinFuture Prize aims to recognize groundbreaking scientific and technological innovations that have the potential to create significant positive changes in the lives of millions of people around the world.
The Prize system consists of four categories, of which the Main Prize – worth 3 million USD – is one of the most valuable prizes in the world; and 3 Special Prizes, each worth 500,000 USD for female scientists, scientists from developing countries and scientists researching new fields.
The greatest value and mission of the VinFuture Foundation and the VinFuture Prize is to promote science to serve humanity, honor outstanding scientific works with high applicability, and can create positive changes for the lives of millions of people around the world.
For more information, visit: https://vinfutureprize.org .
Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/giai-thuong-vinfuture-nam-2024-vinh-danh-4-cong-trinh-khoa-hoc-the-hien-but-pha-kien-cuong-post999577.vnp
Comment (0)