It is our great pleasure to announce that Prof. Kazunori Kataoka, Center Director of the Innovation Center of Nanomedicine (iCONM, located in Tonomachi, Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki City, JAPAN), will receive the Biomaterials Global Impact Award, a globally prestigious award in the biomaterials field. The award, selected by the international journal Biomaterials, is given to researchers who have been recognized as globally influential in the field of biomaterials, including biomaterials, biodevices, biologics, and nanomedicine, which have been the focus of much attention in recent years. The previous two awardees were both from the U.S., making Prof. Kataoka the first non-U.S. researcher to receive the award. The award ceremony will be held on April 21 at the Society for Biomaterials Biology 2023 Annual Meeting (SFB2023@San Diego, USA).
Prof. Robert Langer (Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA) awarded in 2021:
Prof. Langer has one of the world’s largest biomaterials research facilities. It has made a significant contribution to society by creating numerous ventures and ensuring that the results of research in academia are implemented in society.
Prof. Nicholas Peppas (Professor, The University of Texas, USA) awarded in 2022
Dr. Peppas has presented physical and mathematical theories of nanoscale, macromolecular processes, and drug and protein delivery, and has established a sophisticated infrastructure in this area to provide numerous biomedical products and devices to the world.
＜About Prof. Kazunori Kataoka, Center Director of iCONM and Emeritus Professor of the University of Tokyo>
Kazunori Kataoka is the Vice Chairperson of the Kawasaki Institution of Industrial Promotion, Center Director of the Innovation Center of Nanomedicine, and Emeritus Professor of the University of Tokyo.
Over the past 40 years, he has made numerous achievements in the field of biomaterials, especially in the areas of drug delivery/drug targeting, non-viral gene delivery, and nanomedicine, and has published over 600 peer-reviewed papers, which have been cited over 96,000 times (h-index of 161). He has been recognized as a Top 1% Highly Cited Researcher for six consecutive years from 2017 to the present, a total of seven times. He has over 600 patents and is involved in the management of 5 venture companies. He has received numerous awards, including the Clemson Award (Biomaterials Society), the Founder’s Award (Controlled Release Society), the Humboldt Research Award (2012), the Leo Esaki Award (2012), the Prince Takamatsu Cancer Research Fund Award (2017), the Japan Academy of Engineering (2011), the American Academy of Engineering (2017), and the American Academy of Inventors (2017). Currently, innovative nano-DDS research using polymeric nanomicelles is underway at iCONM under Prof. Kataoka, and nine start-up companies have been established in the last few years.
CONTACT:
Dr. Makoto Shimazaki, Communications Manager of iCONM
Shimazaki-m@kawasaki-net.ne.jp
Misato Yamamoto, Communications Coordinator of iCONM
Yamamoto-m@kawasaki-net.ne.jp
Kaori Ikeshiro, Communications Staff of iCONM
Ikeshiro-k@kawasaki-net.ne.jp
