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On Wednesday, November 20, the 29th Keio Medical Science Prize Award Ceremony was held at the Kitasato Hall on Shinanomachi Campus. Beginning in 1996 from a donation by Dr. Mitsunada Sakaguchi, a 1940 alumnus of the School of Medicine, the Keio Medical Science Prize is an annual award under the Keio University Medical Science Fund. It recognizes researchers from Japan and overseas who have made outstanding and creative advancements in the fields of medicine and the life sciences and whose future research holds promise of further achievements. This award is unique among Japanese universities in that twelve of its recipients have gone on to become Nobel laureates, including Sir Demis Hassabis, one of the recipients of the 29th Keio Medical Science Prize, who was awarded the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Sir Demis Hassabis, co-founder and CEO of Google DeepMind, was awarded this year’s prize for his research theme, "Innovation in Biomedical Research through Brain-Inspired Artificial Intelligence." Dr. Mitinori Saitou, professor at the Kyoto University Institute for Advanced Study, was awarded for his research theme, "In Vitro Reconstitution of Germ Cell Development."

At the start of the ceremony, Professor Toshiro Sato, chairperson of the Keio Medical Science Prize Selection Committee and professor in the School of Medicine, reported on the comprehensive review of 125 candidates by the selection committee, which is comprised of members from both within and outside Keio University, to decide on the two recipients of this year’s prize, of which one would be from overseas and one from Japan. President Kohei Itoh then gave a congratulatory address after conferring the medals and certificates on Sir Hassabis and Dr. Saitou. Congratulations were also offered by Arata Takebe, vice minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, and Margaret Tongue, minister-counsellor at the British Embassy in Tokyo. The recipients then took turns at the podium to convey their gratitude at receiving the award while speaking about their research.

In his commemorative lecture that followed, titled "Accelerating Scientific Discovery with AI," Sir Hassabis presented on the scientific applications of deep neural networks and the various possibilities of general artificial intelligence inspired by the computational principles of the brain. Dr. Saitou then gave a lecture titled "Mechanism and In Vitro Reconstitution of Mammalian Germ-Cell Development," in which he discussed the discovery of molecules essential for germ cell development and their application to research involving mice. He also spoke on the prospect of elucidating the mechanisms of human germ cell development, which could potentially shed light on infertility and genetic diseases. The lectures were attended by an audience of over 200 guests, faculty members, staff, and students. They posed many questions to the speakers after each lecture, which were met with enthusiastic responses by both prize recipients, leading to a lively discussion.

A facilities tour of the Keio University Hospital was also conducted prior to the award ceremony. Sir Hassabis and Dr. Saitou listened with interest as hospital staff explained the various facilities and services of the AI Hospital which leverages AI technology.

- Learn more about the 29th Keio Medical Science Prize recipients and their research
- Keio University Medical Science Fund