6 scientists awarded Shaw Prize in online ceremony in Hong Kong

HONG KONG -- The Shaw Prize Award Ceremony 2022 was held here online on Thursday, with six scientists commended for their prominent work in the prize's three categories.

The Astronomy category went to Lennart Lindegren, professor emeritus of Lund Observatory at Sweden's Lund University and Michael Perryman, adjunct professor at the University College Dublin in Ireland for their lifetime contributions to space astrometry.

The prize in Life Science and Medicine went to Paul A Negulescu, senior vice president of San Diego Research of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated and Michael J Welsh, professor of internal medicine at the University of Iowa for their landmark discoveries of the molecular, biochemical, and functional defects underlying cystic fibrosis, and the identification and development of medicines that reverse those defects, which can treat most people affected by this disorder.

Noga Alon, professor of mathematics at Princeton University, and Ehud Hrushovski, Merton professor of mathematical logic at the University of Oxford won the Shaw Prize in Mathematical Sciences in equal shares for their remarkable insights that have transformed modern geometry.

Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) John Lee delivered a video speech at the ceremony.

Lee said that the inspiring work of the six Shaw laureates reveals what can be accomplished in the lifetime pursuit of scientific excellence and societal progress, serving as role models for the next generation of scientists in the HKSAR and all over the world.

Hong Kong is blessed with the support of the country's 14th Five-Year Plan in developing into an international innovation and technology (I&T) hub, Lee said, noting that Hong Kong will work hand in hand with cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area to expand the scale of outstanding research platforms.

Lee added that Hong Kong will build up a healthy I&T ecosystem that attracts global experts and nurtures local talents.

Established in November 2002, the Shaw Prize is managed and administered by the Shaw Prize Foundation based in Hong Kong and is awarded annually. Each prize bears a monetary award of $1.2 million.