On 26 January 2023, Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, as the Representative of His Majesty the King, presided over the 2022 Prince Mahidol Awards (PMA) at the Chakri Throne Hall and host a dinner in honour of the laureates at the Boromrajasathitmaholarn Hall. The 2022 PMA recipients are as follows:

In the field of Medicine, Professor Dr. Ralph A. DeFronzo from the United States of America, is recognised for his prominent work in the pathophysiology of type 2 diabetes (T2D).

Professor Dr. DeFronzo has helped define that obesity, especially central obesity, causes the biochemical and molecular disturbances responsible for insulin resistance in T2D. He also proposed the personalized treatment of T2D by choosing the appropriate medication according to the pathophysiology of diabetes.

This concept has been recognized and adopted into current medical practice worldwide and saved millions of T2D patients from chronic diabetic complications.

In the field of Public Health, Doctor Douglas R. Lowy, Doctor John T. Schiller from the United States of America, and Professor Ian H. Frazer from the Australia/United Kingdom are recognised for their significant contributions to the treatment of human papillomaviruses.

Doctor Douglas R. Lowy and Doctor John T. Schiller worked together at the National Cancer Institute and discovered that the major virion protein of human papillomaviruses (HPV) could self-assemble into virus-like particles (VLPs) and the VLPs could strongly induce a protective immune response against the viruses.

Professor Ian H. Frazer, on the other hand, discovered the VLP self-assembly process during his research at the University of Queensland. This helped develop VLP production processes from recombinant proteins and led to the development of HPV vaccines using VLPs, which prevented HPV infection, cervical cancer, and other HPV-related cancers.

The Prince Mahidol Award Foundation under the Royal Patronage was established to commemorate the centenary of the Birth of His Royal Highness Prince Mahidol of Songkla, on 1 January 1992. With HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn as President, the Foundation annually confers two Prince Mahido Awards on individual(s) or institution(s) that have demonstrated outstanding and exemplary contributions to the advancement of the world’s medical and public health services. Each Award consists of a medal, a certificate, and a prize of $100,000.