The History of AOTA Prizes: An Introduction
Since 1980, AOTA has awarded two prizes to distinguished scientists in the field of clinical or basic thyroid research who did his or her work in the Asia and Oceania region. At the beginning the Mallinckrodt Prize and the Otsuka Prize were given. (The Mallinckrodt Prize was later replaced by the Daiichi Prize when the sponsorship changed from Mallinckrodt Co. to Daiichi Radioisotope Laboratories Ltd. In 2005 Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co. withdrew the sponsorship and the prize name was changed to the AOTA Prize through the support of the AOTA office.)
Traditionally, one prize was given to a Japanese and the other to a non-Japanese thyroidologist (Otsuka and Mallinckrodt Prizes, alternatingly). Thus, in 1980, the Otsuka Prize was given to a Japanese (Y. Shishiba of Tokyo, Japan) and the Mallinckrodt Prize to an Australian (D. Adams of Otago, Australia). Then in 1982, the Otsuka Prize was given to an Australian (C. Eastman of Sydney, Australia)) and Mallinckrodt Prize to a Japanese (S. Nagataki of Nagasaki, Japan). This was the set-up followed even when the prize sponsorships subsequently changed.
In 2007 the Nagataki Prize was established as the successor of the AOTA Prize. The Nagataki Prize is sponsored by Dr. Shigenobu Nagataki and his colleagues at the Nagasaki University School of Medicine to be given to a non-Japanese thyroidologist who meets criteria published in the AOTA website. In 2009, the FUJIFILM Prize was established in place of the Daiichi Prize. Both the Daiichi/ FUJIFILM Prize and the Nagataki Prize are given during the International Thyroid Congress (ITC) or AOTA meetings. In these meetings, the recipients deliver their Prize Lectures and receive plaques of appreciation and US$2,000 each. In the 14th ITC in Paris, France, the ITC Program Organizing Committee recommended to have only one Prize Lecture delivered from each of the four Sister Societies (ATA, ETA, LATS & AOTA). Thus, the FUJIFILM & Nagataki Prizes were combined into a single lectureship, regardless of the recipient’s nationality.
Past Prize Recipients
Mallickrodt Prize (1980-1986)
Otsuka Prize (1980-2003)
Diichi Prize (1989-2007)
AOTA Prize (2005)
Nagataki Prize (From 2007)
FIJIFILM Prize (From 2009)
- 1980 at the 8th International Thyroid Congress in Sydney, Australia
Dr. D. Adams (Otago, Australia): “The pathogenesis of Graves’ disease” - 1982 at the 2nd Congress of the Asia & Oceania Thyroid Association in Tokyo, Japan
Dr. S. Nagataki (Nagasaki, Japan): “Pathogenic factors of Graves’ disease” - 1985 at the 9th International Thyroid Congress in Sao Paulo, Brazil
Dr. B.S. Hetzel (Adelaide, Australia): “Iodine deficiency, the thyroid, and the brain” - 1986 at the 3rd Congress of the Asia & Oceania Thyroid Association in Bangkok, Thailand
Dr. J. Konishi (Kyoto, Japan): “Role of thyrotropin-receptor antibodies in primary hypothyroidism - 1989 at the 4th Congress of the Asia & Oceania Thyroid Association in Seoul, Korea
Dr. R.T.T. Young (Hong Kong): “Thyrotoxic periodic paralysis revisited” - 1991 at the 10th International Thyroid Congress in The Hague, Netherlands
Dr. T. Onaya (Yamanashi, Japan): “Thyrotropin-inducible genes in experimental hyperplasia and neoplasia” - 1993 at the 5th Congress of the Asia & Oceania Thyroid Association in Sydney, Australia
Dr. B.Y. Cho (Seoul, Korea): “Thyroid stimulation-blocking antibody and autoimmune atrophic thyroiditis” - 1995 at the 11th International Thyroid Congress in Toronto, Canada
Dr. Y. Kondo (Maebashi, Japan): “G-protein-mediated mechanisms of the modulation of signal transduction pathways in thyroid cells - 1997 at the 6th Congress of the Asia & Oceania Thyroid Association in Osaka, Japan
Dr. S. C. Boyages (Sydney, Australia): “Iodine deficiency and brain - 2000 at the 12th International Thyroid Congress in Kyoto, Japan
Dr. Hisao Seo (Nagoya, Japan): “Redox regulation of thyroid transcription factors - 2003 at the 7th Congress of the Asia & Oceania Thyroid Association in Singapore
Dr. Bruce G. Robinson (Sydney, Australia): “Molecular determinants of thyroid cancer phenotype - 2005 at the 13th International Thyroid Congress in Buenos Aires, Argentina
Dr. Masatomo Mori (Maebashi, Japan): “Thyroid hormone receptor as a nuclear transcription factor; clinical implications - 2007 at the 8th Congress of the Asia & Oceania Thyroid Association in Manila, Philippines
Dr. Hirotoshi Nakamura (Hamamatsu, Japan): “Negative regulation of TSH genes by the thyroid hormone & its receptors - 2009 at the 9th Congress of the Asia & Oceania Thyroid Association in Nagoya, Japan
Dr. Masanobu Yamada (………., Japan): “The pathology and management of central hypothyroidism”
The NAGATAKI –FUJIFILM Prize
This prize is awarded to a distinguished scientist working in the Asia & Oceania region, regardless of nationality, and who has been contributing to basic or clinical thyroidology. There are no age limits for the recipient of the combined Prize. The NAGATAKI-FUJIFILM Prize has been awarded since 2010.
Nominations for this Prize are received by the AOTA Secretariat through elected AOTA Council Members. Nominees are vetted according to specified criteria as follows:
• Quality & Quantity of Publications (30%)
• Impact of Publications (20%)
• Active Contribution to AOTA (30%)
• Citations & Recommendation (20%)
- 2010 at the 14th International Thyroid Congress in Paris, France
Dr. Takashi Akamizu (Wakayama, Japan): “Pathophysiology and pathogenesis of Graves’ disease - 2012 at the 10th Congress of the Asia & Oceania Thyroid Association in Bali, Indonesia,
Dr. Young Kee Shong (Seoul, Korea): “Post-operative follow-up of patients with thyroid cancer.” - 2014 at the 11th Congress of the Asia & Oceania Thyroid Association in Kochi, India
Dr Roderick Clifton-Bligh (Sydney, Australia): “Transcription factors in thyroid cancer” - 2015 at the 15th International Thyroid Congress in Orlando, Florida, USA
Dr Akira Miyauchi (Kobe, Japan) on ““Toward best management of thyroid cancer.”