The evening was filled with pomp, pageantry and praise for two outstanding American doctors in a ceremony at the Grand Palace in Bangkok as they received Mahidol Awards for their pioneering work in public health and medicine.

Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn bestowed the coveted honors on the American doctors before an audience that included elite members of the Kingdom’s medical community, privy councilors, cabinet ministers and the diplomatic corps.

Prof. Napoleone Ferrara garnered the Mahidol Award in the field of medicine for his work on vascular-related aggressive cancers and age-related macular degeneration. Dr. Barry H. Rumack received the award in the field of public health for his work in diagnosing paracetamol toxicity.

They were selected from 92 nominations from 31 countries. The winners each received a medal, a certificate and $100,000.

The winners expressed their gratitude for the honor and said it inspired them to make further contributions. Dr. Rumack said his work now focuses on malnutrition and how different medicines and nutrients could help alleviate it.

“I do hope that my research will further be developed to deal with the malnutrition problem, which over 728 million people are suffering from, particularly in southern Africa. But also, in the United States, many eat less protein but consume more carbohydrates,” he said, noting that diet also produces malnutrition.

The Prince Mahidol Award was inaugurated in 1992 to honor Prince Mahidol of Songkhla, a Harvard-educated physician regarded as “the Father of Modern Medicine and Public Health of Thailand.” Prince Mahidol was the grandfather of the current monarch, His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn Phra Vajiraklaochaoyuhua.

The Prince Mahidol Award is one of the highest honors in medicine, apart from the Nobel Prize. Six of the 94 Mahidol Award laureates have gone on to win Nobel Prizes.

Photo courtesy of https://www.princemahidolaward.org/the-presentation-ceremony-of-prince-mahidol-award-2023/