Lectureship Awards
Ho Wang Lee Award Lecture
The Ho Wang Lee Award is an academic award established by the International Society of Hantaviruses to honor Dr. Ho Wang Lee's discovery of the Hantaan virus, the very pathogen of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS), and scientific achievements in the field of hantavirus research.
One of Professor Lee’s major findings is the identification of an etiological agent of HFRS, previously referred to as Korean epidemic hemorrhagic fever. In the 1980s, he also identified the Seoul virus as an etiological agent of urban HFRS. In addition, He developed the first licensed vaccine and diagnostic kit for HFRS in the 1990s.
Professor Lee sincerely gave his lessons to and inspired the younger generation of medical scientists as follows: ‘to a scientist, coincidence is a gift that comes from enthusiasm and efforts’ and ‘be brave to challenge and investigate an unsolved question in the world.’ He contributed his efforts and compassion to enhance public health standards to overcome the fear of contagious diseases by investigating from the identification of the causing virus to its diagnostics and vaccine. He was a great person who left a big footprint all over the world as a doctor, scientist, and educator.
Ho Wang Lee Lectureship Awardee of the ICH2023
As a result of careful selection among outstanding researchers in the field of Hantaviruses from around the world, the ICH 2023 winner of the Ho Wang Lee Award was selected as follows. Congratulations.
Awardee : Dr. Connie Schmaljohn (NIAID, USA)
Dr. Connie Schmaljohn is the Director of the NIAID Integrated Research Facility (IRF-Frederick) where she provides overall scientific leadership to research activities and oversees collaborative research programs to advance medical countermeasures for highly pathogenic viruses. In addition, she serves as an expert consultant and advisor both nationally and internationally on the development of novel vaccine strategies for highly pathogenic viruses. She will provide a honorable lecture titled with "The Hantavirology Continuum” on 14th, June, at the ICH 2023.
Joel M. Dalrymple Lectureship Awardee of the ICH2023
As a result of careful selection among outstanding researchers in the field of Hantaviruses from around the world, the ICH 2023 winner of Joel M. Dalrymple Award was selected as follows. Congratulations.
Awardee : Dr. Misa Korva (University of Ljubljana, Slovenia)
Dr. Miša Korva is an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana. She has worked extensively on the continuous surveillance of orthohantaviruses in natural hosts and the development of tools to study the molecular epidemiology of HRFS in humans. Her work focused on the development and validation of high sensitive and specific molecular approaches for the clinical diagnosis of HFRS and the role of viral load on the pathogenesis and outcome of infection. She investigated differences in clinical presentation and outcome in patients infected with Puumala or Dobrava orthohantavirus and described various potential virological and immunological factors that contribute to disease severity. She will provide a honorable lecture titled with "Epidemiology, virology and clinical aspects of orthohantavirus infections” on 15th, June, at the ICH 2023.