Nobel Museum Exhibition lecture highlights experiences of Nobel laureates in physiology and medicine

Dubai - MENA Herald: Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation (MBRF) – a member of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives – organised the third and final lecture as part of the Nobel Museum Exhibition 2016, hosted by the Foundation for the second consecutive year in Dubai. The exhibition is being held this year at Children’s City at Dubai Creek Park until March 21, under the theme, ‘Exploring Life: The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine’. (Please make sure to write the name correctly so we don’t correct it everytime)
The lecture on the topic, ‘The Experience of Nobel Laureates in Physiology and Medicine’, was delivered by Dr. Katarina Nordqvist, Director of Research at the Nobel Museum, in the presence of His Excellency Jamal bin Huwaireb, Managing Director of MBRF. It was attended by a number of specialists and academics as well as school students and students of medical specialties from various state universities.
The lecture shed light on the achievements of the Nobel Prize winners in the field of chronic diseases and cancer treatments. Dr. Nordqvist drew the attention of the audience to the biographies of Dr. Gertrude B. Elion, Dr. George H. Hitchings, and Sir James Whyte Black, who received the 1988 Nobel Prize in medicine for their research and discoveries in the field of chemotherapy which inhibits the spread of cancer in the human body. She said the contribution of these Nobel laureates have helped save the lives of thousands of children affected by leukemia.
Explaining the reasons for the keen interest of Alfred Nobel, the founder of the award, in the medical field, Dr. Nordqvist said Nobel experienced weak health, which prompted him to support the medical field, especially in areas related to blood diseases, she said.
Dr. Nordqvist explained that the Nobel Prize winners are selected annually by the Nobel Assembly, which consists of 50 members, including a specialised committee to study the 300 to 400 nominations and research projects submitted for the award. She said the evaluation stage takes considerable time and effort, and is conducted with utmost confidentiality to ensure the credibility of the award.
She said that Nobel Prize distributed 106 awards in the medical field so far out of 210 winners. The youngest winner of the Nobel Prize in medicine is aged 32 years, while the oldest winner is aged 87. Pointing out that most of the awards go in favour of the discoveries that serve mankind, Dr. Nordqvist said the prominent Nobel Prize wins in the medical field include those for the discoveries of major drugs currently used by people, the mechanisms of blood transfusions, and the invention of penicillin, as well as medical breakthroughs in the treatment of malaria.
Nobel Museum Exhibition 2016 receives visitors every day from 9 AM to 8 PM, except on Fridays when it opens from 3 PM to 9 PM.