Front side of an award medal in physiology or medicine.
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (Swedish: Nobelpriset i fysiologi eller medicin) is awarded once a year by the Swedish Karolinska Institute. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895, awarded for outstanding contributions in Physics, Chemistry, Literature, Peace, and Physiology or Medicine since 1901. The first Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded in 1901 to Emil Adolf von Behring, a German, "for his work on serum therapy, especially its application against diphtheria, by which he has opened a new road in the domain of biological science and thereby placed in the hands of the physician a victorious weapon against illness and deaths." This award is administered by the Nobel Foundation and widely regarded as the most prestigious award that a scientist can receive in these fields. It is presented in Stockholm at an annual ceremony on December 10, the anniversary of Nobel's death. "The highlight of the Nobel Prize Award Ceremony in Stockholm is when each Nobel Laureate steps forward to receive the prize from the hands of His Majesty the King of Sweden. ... Under the eyes of a watching world, the Nobel Laureate receives three things: a diploma, a medal and a document confirming the prize amount".[1]
In 2008 the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Harald zur Hausen of Germany "for his discovery of human papilloma viruses causing cervical cancer" and Françoise Barré-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier of France "for their discovery of human immunodeficiency virus"; they share the prize amount of 10,000,000 SEK (slightly more than €1 million, or US$1.4 million). The front side of "The medal of the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute" provides the same profile of Alfred Nobel depicted on the medals for Physics, Chemistry, and Literature; its reverse side "represents the Genius of Medicine holding an open book in her lap, collecting the water pouring out from a rock in order to quench a sick girl's thirst".[2]
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