Ronald Evans, the Salk Institute biologist whose insights about hormones have helped scientists develop more effective drugs for cancer, diabetes and heart disease, was awarded the Japan Prize Tuesday for his work in the fields of medical and pharmaceutical science.
The Japan Prize Foundation also jointly awarded a prize to American researcher John Michael Wallace and British scholar Brian J. Hoskins for their work in the fields of resources, energy, the environment and social infrastructure.
The Japan Prize is one of the most coveted awards in science and technology and has, for some recipients, been a precursor to winning the Nobel Prize.
For years, scientists have cited Evans for doing Nobel-caliber work. The praise is heavily tied to his discovery of nuclear hormone receptors, which Evans has described as “genetic switches that respond to hormones and help control our body physiology.”
(Courtesy of the Salk Institute )
The impact is enormous. The hormones help control everything from sugar, calcium and salt to the metabolism of fat. The Salk says scientists focus on these hormones to find ways to treat breast, prostate and pancreatic cancer, along with leukemia, asthma and osteoporosis. Evans’ research has factored into the development of more than a dozen drugs to fight these diseases.
Evans, 74, also stirred interest last year for fresh insights about pancreatic and colorectal cancer.
“There are so many good scientists out there and so many good discoveries that it is really special to get this kind of recognition,” Evans told the San Diego Union-Tribune. “I didn’t even know that I had been nominated. It came as a complete surprise.”
When reminded that some people who win the Japan Prize go on to win the Nobel, he smiled and said, “I’d accept! These are the two highest prizes that you can get.”
The biologist, who has been at the Salk since 1978, has previously won two other coveted prizes, the Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award in 2004 and the Wolf Prize in 2012.
