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ACADEMY FELLOW RECEIVES INTERNATIONAL PRIZE FOR CANCER VACCINE
9 September 2008

The Australian Academy of Science congratulates Professor Ian Frazer FAA on winning the Balzan Prize for Preventive Medicine, including vaccination.

Professor Frazer from Queensland's Diamantina Institute for Cancer, Immunology and Metabolic Medicine won the prize for his outstanding scientific achievement and lasting contribution to preventive medicine in developing a vaccine that promises to prevent virus-induced carcinoma of the cervix, which claims around 250,000 lives every year.

The prize is valued at around $800,000, half of which must be donated to a project undertaken by a young researcher of the winner's choice.

The Balzan Prize Foundation's aim is to foster culture, the sciences and the most meritorious initiatives in the cause of humanity, peace and brotherhood among peoples throughout the world.

Prizes are awarded in the subject areas of: literature, moral sciences and the arts; physical, mathematical and natural sciences and medicine; and humanities, peace and brotherhood among peoples. No more than four prizes may be awarded in any one year.

Further information: www.balzan.it/interne.aspx?lang=en&Codice=3&from1=3

Media contact: Richard Bray, 02 6201 9452, richard.bray@science.org.au