HATTORI Kunihiro, Former IFReC Guest Professor and UOsaka alumnus, awarded the Lasker Award

Dr. HATTORI Kunihiro, a former Senior Fellow at Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. and a Guest Professor at the Immunology Frontier Research Center (IFReC), The University of Osaka, from 2017 to 2024, has been awarded the U.S. Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award (the Lasker Award).
Dr. HATTORI is also an alumnus of the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences and the Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Osaka. He earned his Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, The University of Osaka, in 1996.

Below are messages from UOsaka President KUMANOGOH Atsushi; OBIKA Satoshi, Dean of the Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences and the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences; Distinguished Honorary Professor SAKAGUCHI Shimon; and Distinguished Professor AKIRA Shizuo. Drs. SAKAGUCHI and AKIRA both conducted research alongside Dr. HATTORI at IFReC.

【Message from President KUMANOGOH Atsushi】

I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to Dr. HATTORI Kunihiro, an alumnus of the University of Osaka and a former Guest Professor at the Immunology Frontier Research Center (IFReC), on receiving the internationally renowned Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award.
I express my deepest respect for Dr. HATTORI’s remarkable contributions to the advancement of medicine through the translation of his innovative research into practical therapies that have addressed a long-standing challenge in hemophilia treatment. I wish Dr. HATTORI continued success in his pioneering work.
At the same time, The University of Osaka will remain committed to advancing research and education that contribute to society and the global community.

【Message from Distinguished Honorary Professor SAKAGUCHI Shimon (Specially Appointed Professor at IFReC)】

I am delighted to hear that Dr. HATTORI has been awarded the Lasker Award, and I offer him my heartfelt congratulations.
The development of an antibody therapeutic for hemophilia using a novel antibody technology, which is now widely used worldwide in the treatment of hemophilia, stands as a remarkable achievement in medicine. I hold his contribution in the highest esteem and express my profound respect for this outstanding accomplishment.
I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations once again on this outstanding achievement and wish him continued good health and every success in his future endeavors.

【Message from Distinguished Professor AKIRA Shizuo (Specially Appointed Professor and Director, Center for Advanced Modalities and DDS (CAMaD))】

My heartfelt congratulations to Dr. HATTORI on being awarded the Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award.
I am deeply grateful not only for his longstanding and generous support of IFReC, but also for the invaluable expertise and collaboration he continues to provide through our ongoing joint research activities.
It gives me great pleasure to see Dr. HATTORI’s outstanding foresight and unwavering dedication to research recognized through this distinguished achievement. I sincerely wish him continued good health and even greater success in all his future endeavors, including our ongoing collaborative research.

【Message from OBIKA Satoshi (Dean of the Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences and the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences)】

Congratulations on receiving the Lasker Award.
On behalf of the Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences and the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Osaka, I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations on this remarkable achievement.

I was delighted to learn from yesterday’s news reports that Dr. HATTORI’s groundbreaking achievement in establishing the innovative therapeutic concept of a bispecific antibody for hemophilia A and translating it into an actual medicine has been recognized with the Lasker Award, one of the world’s most distinguished honors.
His groundbreaking achievement, which has transformed the treatment of countless patients with hemophilia around the world, makes this recognition exceptionally well deserved. His being an alumnus of the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences at UOsaka is a source of great pride and joy to all of us.
By translating the fruits of pharmaceutical research into a novel therapy that has benefited patients worldwide, he has embodied the very ideal that pharmaceutical science strives to achieve. His achievement will undoubtedly serve as a tremendous source of encouragement and inspiration to the students and young researchers currently studying and conducting research at the University of Osaka.

I would like to express my profound respect once again for his years of dedication to research and development, culminating in this remarkable achievement. I sincerely wish him continued success and even greater accomplishments in the years ahead.
Congratulations once again on this well-deserved honor.

＜Related Links＞
Immunology Frontier Research Center (IFReC)
https://www.ifrec.osaka-u.ac.jp/en/
School of Pharmaceutical Sciences/Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences
https://www.phs.osaka-u.ac.jp/en/