|
Tyler
Prize Home Page
|
 The 2003 Tyler Prize for Environmental
Achievement is being awarded to Sir Richard Doll to honor
him for his pioneering contributions on the association between
a range of environmental agents and cancer. He is recognized
worldwide for his many important contributions to the field of
epidemiology but his most outstanding contribution was his seminal
work establishing beyond any question the link between lung cancer
and cigarette smoking. Sir Richard through his meticulous research
has done more than almost anyone to identify preventable cancers
and to ensure that actions are taken to protect individuals from
harmful exposure.
In the late 1940's, many British doctors blamed rising lung
cancer rates on atmospheric pollution, specifically coal smoke.
But Doll, working as part of a research team, discovered a common
denominator among the cancer patients that others had not tobacco smoking. Doll and Bradford Hill studied 709 lung cancer
patients in 20 London hospitals and found smoking was the one
thing that clearly characterized the lung cancer patients. It
was the first time there was a scientifically proven link between
tobacco smoke and lung cancer. They also linked smoking to heart
and respiratory diseases. The findings, published in the 1950's
have had an immeasurable impact on how smoking is regarded today.
Doll, expanded his epidemiological work into other areas while
continuing his research on the link between tobacco and human
illness. He linked asbestos and lung cancer and also connected
the inhalation of nickel compounds by nickel refiners with cancers
of the lung and paranasal sinuses. Doll also showed that the
risk of developing leukemia was proportional to the dose of radiation
by studying patients given x-ray therapy for ankylosing spondylitis.
Sir Richard was born in Hampton, England on October 28, 1912.
He received his MB and BS degree from St. Thomas's Hospital Medical
School, University of London in 1937 and his MD degree in 1945.
He holds a DSc degree from the University of London (1958) and
a DM from Oxford University (1969). After obtaining his medical
degree he served as a Medical Officer in France from 1939 to
40 and as a Medical Specialist in the Middle East from 1941 to
1944. He joined St. Thomas's Hospital Medical unit in 1945 and
from 1948 to 1969 he worked in the Medical Research Council's
Statistical Research Unit, eventually rising to the Director
of the Unit. In 1969, he became Regius Professor of Medicine
at Oxford and in 1979 the first Warden of Green College, Oxford.
He was Director, Imperial Cancer Research Fund (ICRF) Cancer
Epidemiology Unit from 1978-1983. Although, he officially retired
in 1983 he has continued his research interests as an honorary
member of Professor Peto's Cancer Studies Unit in Oxford.
Sir Richard has been a prolific researcher, mentor and author.
He has published over 490 scientific articles. Queen Elizabeth
recognized his achievements by first making him an officer of
the Order of the British Empire in 1956, knighted him in 1971
and in 1996 granted him the rare tribute of a Companion of Honour.
He is a Fellow of the Royal Society and a foreign associate of
the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. He is also an honorary
member of the American Association for Cancer Research, American
Academy of Arts and Sciences, American Gastroenterological Association,
American Epidemiological Society, International Epidemiological
Society and Norwegian Academy of Sciences to name a few. He has
been awarded thirteen honorary scientific degrees and over twenty
scientific awards have been bestowed on him. In 2002, he was
awarded the King Olav V Prize for Outstanding Cancer Research
along with his long time collaborator Sir. Richard Peto. He is
the recipient of the American Medical Associations' Dr. Nathan
Davis International Award in Medicine and Public Health (2001),
the Gold Medal of the European Society of Cardiology (2000),
the Erkki Saxen Medal of the Cancer Society of Finland (1995),
Prince Mahidol Award (1992), Helmut Horten Foundation Award (1991),
Ettore Majorana Erice Science for Peace Prize (1990), the Royal
Medal of the Royal Society in 1986, the Founders Award of the
Chemical Industry Institute of Toxicology (1986), Wilhelm Conrad
Roentgen Prize, Accademia dei Lincei, Rome (1984), the Gold Medal
of the British Medical Association (1983), Charles S. Mott Prize
for Cancer Research (1979) presented by President Carter and
the Prix Griffuel in 1975.
Over the last half century, Sir Richard has been a true medical
pioneer and he has done more than any other epidemiologist to
transform the worlds general understanding of the avoidability
of cancer and many other diseases linked to environmental exposures
and human behaviour.
 The 2003 Tyler Prize for Environmental
Achievement is being awarded to Dr. Hans R. Herren for
leading one of the largest and most successful biological control
programs in the world. His research and action saved one of Africa's
most important food crops, cassava. When the mealybug was attacking
the cassava plant and threatening over 200 million people of
famine across tropical and subtropical Africa. Dr. Herren and
his research team identified and introduced a parasitic wasp,
a natural enemy of the mealybug. The wasp brought the mealybug
under full control within 10 years, preventing widespread famine
and the death of an estimated 20 million people. This biological
control program also eliminated the need for and risks associated
with chemical pesticides.
Dr. Herren was born in Muehleberg, Switzerland in 1947 and
he grew up on a farm in the Southern Rhone valley of Switzerland.
He received his bachelor's of science degree from Humboldtianum
in Bern, Switzerland in 1968 and his masters' (1973) and doctoral
degree (1977) in agricultural sciences from the Federal Institute
of Technology in Zurich. His doctoral research on biological
control of the larch bud moth in the Swiss Alps was a pioneering
study of manipulation of an insect population. It is featured
in many modern ecology texts as a component of long term insect
population dynamic studies.
From 1977 to 1979, he was a post-doctoral researcher at the
University of California, Berkeley under a grant provided by
the Swiss National Science Foundation. Herren joined the International
Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Ibadan, Nigeria as
Director of Biological Control and from 1992 to 1994 served as
the Director of the Plant Health Management Division. In 1994,
he became Chief Executive and Director General of Insect Physiology
and Ecology (ICIPE) based in Nairobi Kenya, which is the position
he still currently holds.
Dr. Herren has published over 70 scientific articles and is
sought after as a distinguished speaker. He is a member of numerous
international professional societies, including the American
Association for the Advancement of Science, the International
Organization of Biological Control, the New York Academy of Science,
the Entomological Society of America and the International Society
for Tropical Root Crops. He is a founding member and editorial
board member of the journal Biological Control Science and Technology
and current President of the International Association for the
Plant Protection Sciences (IAPPS). Herren was elected a Foreign
Associate of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences in 1999.
Numerous international awards have been bestowed on him as
a testament to his leadership and scientific accomplishments.
Mrs. Margaret Thatcher presented him the Sir and Lady Rank Prize
for Nutrition in 1991 in London. He was presented with a Kilby
Award for Extraordinary Contribution to Society through Sciences,
Technology, Innovation, Invention, and Education in Dallas, Texas
in 1995. In October 1995, he became a Laureate of the World Food
Prize awarded in recognition for having "advanced human
development by improving the quality, quantity and availability
of the worlds' food supply." The International Pest Management
Conference in Kampala, Uganda in 2002 presented him with the
Excellent Performance Award. Again in 2002, he was awarded the
Brandenberger Prize for "guiding contributions and improvement
of the living standards of rural populations in Africa through
development of agricultural production methods in harmony with
the environment."
Dr. Herren continues to be a strong and active advocate for
the research and development of biological control and other
ecologically sound pest and vector management methods throughout
Africa and the tropical world. As Director of ICIPE, he oversees
and has been instrumental in implementing not only a diverse
and wide range of exciting research programs on insect pests
and vectors of human, plant and animal diseases and their control
by natural pests, but has implemented an active program in graduate
and postgraduate training, training of technicians and specialists
in integrated rural development. He is dedicated to the promotion
of sustainable and equitable development and with a team of colleagues
has set up the BioVision Foundation to implement and extend current
research and training activities. The Foundation assists farmers
with new methods to combat plant pests and human and animal disease
vectors, increasing increase their income and quality of life,
and maintaining and/or restoring the integrity of the African
environment for future generations.
 The 2003 Tyler Prize for Environmental
Achievement is being awarded to Yoel Margalith to honor
him for his contributions to the biological control of mosquitoes
and black flies. His discovery in 1976 of the new microbial subspecies
known as Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis (Bti) has
had an enormous effect on human health and on environmental quality.
Bti is a naturally occurring microbial agent, which is lethal
to most species of mosquitoes and black flies. Unlike chemical
pesticides, Bti has little negative environmental impact, as
it is specific to the larvae of mosquitoes and black flies, while
other organisms are unaffected. This natural enemy to the mosquito
and black fly is often far cheaper than chemical alternatives.
No significant resistance to Bti has been reported in over twenty
years of use. Bti has increasingly been chosen for controlling
mosquito and black fly born diseases. Bti has been used very
effectively against river blindness, along the Volta River in
eleven African countries. The sight of millions has been saved
and repopulation of deserted river valleys has been initiated.
Additionally, malarial infections from pesticide resistant mosquitoes
have dropped by 90% along the Yangtze River, China, which has
a population of over 20 million people.
In addition to his discovery and research on Bti, Dr. Margalith
has helped introduce the concept of Integrated Biological Control
(IBC) against mosquitoes in the Middle East, Central Asia, Europe,
and Africa. Integrated Biological Control includes not only production
and introduction of Bti into mosquito and black fly infested
areas but also involves ecological manipulation of the mosquito
and black fly habitat as well as introduction of fish predators
to the insects breeding areas.
Dr. Margalith was born in Yugoslavia on February 9, 1933.
He was a prisoner from 1944-45 at the Bergen-Belzen and Terezienstadt
Concentration Camps. He immigrated to Israel in 1948 and joined
the Shaar Haamakim Kibbutz. He received his Bachelors' degree
from the Department of Zoology at Hebrew University in Jerusalem
in 1962, his MSc in Entomology in 1967 and a PhD degree in Parasitology
in 1971 both from Hebrew University. He was a visiting research
associate at the Center for Biology and Natural Systems of Washington
University in St. Louis, Missouri in 1972 and a visiting Associate
Professor at Southern Illinois University from 1973 through 1975.
In 1976, he returned to Israel as a Senior Scientist at the Israel
Institute for Biological Research, Nes Ziona. He became a Senior
lecturer in the Department of Life Sciences at Ben Gurion University
of the Negev in 1978 and was promoted to Associate Professor
in 1988 where he currently is Professor of Entomology and Director
of the Center for Biological Control. He was also a visiting
scholar of Tropical Public Health at Harvard School of Public
Health from 1990-92.
Dr. Margalith has been an active researcher, teacher and author.
He has published some 60 scientific articles, the author of 2
books and co-editor of several collective volumes on Bacterial
control of insect pests. He served as President of the Zoological
Society of Israel form 1979-1981. Internationally recognized
as a leader in his field, Margalith has won numerous awards,
including an Honorary Doctorate from the Universidad Autonoma
de Neuvo Leon in Monterrey, Mexico; the Presidential Citation
Award from the American Mosquito Control Association (AMCA) and
a Special Citation Award by the Greek Mosquito Abatement Organization.
He was awarded the first honorary membership in the Hungarian
Mosquito Control Association. The Society of Invertebrate Pathology
bestowed upon him a special award for his achievements in Integrated
Biological Control. He was also made the first honorary member
of the European Mosquito Control Association.
Margalith has devoted his professional career to initiating
and supervising programs to eradicate mosquitoes and black flies
in Israel and around the world. He is popularly known worldwide
as Israel's "Mr. Mosquito" and his efforts in introducing
integrated biological control have saved millions of lives worldwide
and protected many regions of the world from the effects of chemical
pollution. |
