(Press-News.org)
Kumamoto University announced that Professor Kazuya Yamagata, of the Faculty of Life Sciences (Department of Pathophysiological Biochemistry), has been awarded Second Prize at the 62nd (FY2025) Erwin von Bälz Prize, a prestigious international medical award recognizing outstanding research that advances collaboration between Japan and Germany.
Established in 1964, the Erwin von Bälz Prize is a long-standing and highly respected medical award that honors exceptional research achievements in medicine each year. It aims to promote academic exchange and cooperation between Japanese and German medical researchers by recognizing original and impactful scientific contributions.
For the 2025 competition, submissions were solicited under the theme “Mechanisms Regulating Insulin Secretion and Diabetes Characterized by Impaired Insulin Secretion.” Professor Yamagata’s research, titled “Identification and Mechanistic Analysis of Diabetes Caused by Abnormalities in Pancreatic β-Cell Transcription Factors,” was selected for its scientific originality and broad relevance.
Professor Yamagata’s work originated from the identification of the causative genes, HNF1α and HNF4α, for maturity-onset diabetes of the young (MODY), a monogenic form of diabetes (1,2). Based on this discovery, he has consistently investigated pancreatic β-cell function, focusing on the HNF transcription factors. His findings have significantly deepened our understanding of not only monogenic diabetes, but also β-cell function and the pathophysiology of more common diabetes.
The selection committee highly evaluated the study’s theoretical depth, methodological rigor, and its potential to inform future diabetes research and clinical strategies, underscoring its substantial academic and medical significance.
The award ceremony was held on December 2, 2025 at the German Ambassador’s Residence in Tokyo, attended by senior representatives of the Federal Republic of Germany, including the Deputy Chief of Mission.
For details (in Japanese):
https://www.boehringer-ingelheim.com/jp/baelz-award-winner
Representative Publications
Yamagata, K. et al. Mutations in the hepatocyte nuclear factor-1α gene in maturity-onset diabetes of the young (MODY3). Nature, 384, 455–458 (1996).
https://doi.org/10.1038/384455a0
Yamagata, K. et al. Mutations in the hepatocyte nuclear factor-4α gene in maturity-onset diabetes of the young (MODY1). Nature, 384, 458–460 (1996).
https://doi.org/10.1038/384458a0 END
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