March 31, 2009 - Shinya Yamanaka, director of Kyoto University's Center for iPS Cell Research and Application (CiRA) , has received the 2009 Canada Gairdner International Award for his discovery of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells).

"It is an great honor for me to receive the prestigious Gairdner Award this year - the 50th anniversary of the award," said Yamanaka. "iPS cell research has advanced in Canada and the United States. Receiving this award is encouraging to me and colleagues in my laboratory to work for another decade."

The award will be presented to Yamanaka, and his co-prizewinners, Kazutoshi Mori of Kyoto University Graduate School of Science, Richard Losick, of Harvard University, Lucy Shapiro of Stanford University School of Medicine, and Peter Walter of University of California, San Francisco, at the Gairdner 50th anniversary gala banquet held in Toronto on October 29.

The Gairdner Award, created in 1959, is Canada's top international prize of science and one of the most prestigious awards in the world. It is awarded every year to recognize the breakthroughs of leading scientists in medicine and to bring their research results to the public. One in four Gairdner winners has won the Nobel Prize, according to the Gairdner Foundation.

The Gairdner Foundation URL: http://www.gairdner.org/