Daniel J. Drucker, Jeffrey M. Friedman, Joel F. Habener, Jens Juul Holst and Svetlana Mojsov 2024 Princess of Asturias Award for Technical & Scientific Research

At its meeting in Oviedo, the Jury for the 2024 Princess of Asturias Award for Technical and Scientific Research, made up of Jesús del Álamo, Alberto Aparici Benages, Juan Luis Arsuaga Ferreras, Juan Ignacio Cirac Sasturáin, Avelino Corma Canós, Elena García Armada, Bernardo Hernández González, Jerónimo López Martínez, Amador Menéndez Velázquez, Ginés Morata Pérez, Peregrina Quintela Estévez, Inés Rodríguez Hidalgo, María Teresa Telleria Jorge, María Paz Zorzano Mier, chaired by Pedro Miguel Echenique Landiríbar and with Cristina Garmendia Mendizábal acting as secretary, has unanimously agreed to confer the Princess of Asturias Award for Technical and Scientific Research on researchers Daniel J. Drucker, Jeffrey M. Friedman, Joel F. Habener, Jens Juul Holst and Svetlana Mojsov.

Research by the award-winning scientists has laid the endocrine foundations of diabetes and obesity, significant pathologies that constitute a global public health problem with no effective treatment to date.

Jeffrey M. Friedman has been a pioneer in establishing the genetic basis of the hormone that regulates appetite. Daniel J. Drucker, Joel F. Habener, Jens Juul Holst and Svetlana Mojsov have studied the effect of certain hormones that regulate insulin secretion and hence glucose levels. This research has led to the development of currently available treatments that are improving the quality of life for hundreds of millions of people worldwide.

These studies are having an enormous clinical and social impact, as for the first time they have enabled the development of effective drugs to combat diabetes and obesity. Moreover, they enable us to mitigate associated pathologies such as cardiovascular diseases.

Oviedo, 5th June 2024