NEW YORK, Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Galien Awards Committee announced today that former U.S. President Jimmy Carter will receive the 2017 Pro Bono Humanum Award at the 11^th annual Prix Galien USA Awards Ceremony, to be held on Thursday, October 26, at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.

The annual Pro Bono Humanum Award was first bestowed in 2007 and recognizes innovative individual and group efforts to improve the human condition through the application of biomedical science to problems in developing or underserved populations worldwide.

The Pro Bono Humanum Award will be presented by Dr. P. Roy Vagelos, Chairman of the Prix Galien USA Committee. "President Carter follows in a long line of recipients who demonstrate the basic humanitarian impulse - a desire for excellence in pursuit of the common good," said Dr. Vagelos. "That has always been the driving premise of new medical research. We welcome President Carter and The Carter Center to our roster of principled leaders in health." 

Founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Carter and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, The Carter Center seeks to prevent and resolve conflicts, enhance freedom and democracy, and improve health worldwide. Part of the organization's mission is to create a healthier world through eliminating six core preventable diseases: Guinea worm, river blindness, trachoma, schistosomiasis, lymphatic filariasis, and malaria in Hispanolia.

Just one year ago, The Carter Center reached a major milestone with the delivery of 500 million doses of donated medicines to target tropical diseases in 14 African and Latin American countries. The Carter Center has played a leadership role in the elimination of river blindness, a parasitic infection, in four of the six Latin American countries where it was endemic (Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico and Guatemala), and has halted the disease's transmission in several locations in Africa where more than 99 percent of the global cases exist.

This distinguished award will be accepted by former President Carter's grandson, Jason Carter, who serves as Chair of The Carter Center. "I and The Carter Center deeply appreciate the decision of this panel of top medical scientists to recognize my grandfather's commitment to eliminating preventable diseases that afflict the world's poorest people," said Carter. "The Galien Foundation's international community of medical researchers is key to achieving his vision of providing peace, health, and hope for future generations."

To learn more about the Carter Center's work, please visit: https://www.cartercenter.org/health/index.html.

To learn more about the organization's progress with eradicable disease, please visit: https://www.amnh.org/explore/science-topics/disease-and-eradication/countdown-to-zero.

About the Galien Foundation  

The Galien Foundation fosters, recognizes and rewards excellence in scientific innovation to improve the state of human health. Our vision is to be the catalyst for the development of the next generation of innovative treatments and technologies that will impact the state of medical practice and save lives.

The Foundation oversees and directs activities in the U.S. for the Prix Galien, an international award that recognizes outstanding achievement in improving the human condition through the development of innovative therapies. The Prix Galien was created in 1970 by Roland Mehl in honor of Galien, the father of medical science and modern pharmacology. Worldwide, the Prix Galien is regarded as the equivalent of the Nobel Prize in biopharmaceutical research.

To attend the October 26th Prix Galien USA Awards Ceremony, register at: http://register.prix-galien-usa.com/registration/index.

Media Contacts

Giana Gregga
Finn Partners on behalf of the Galien Foundation
giana.gregga@finnpartners.com 
312-329-3910

SOURCE The Galien Foundation