MEDIA RELEASE
Richest prize of its kind to reward the best work in the world for older people
The search is on for the best work in the world that has enhanced quality of life for older people.
Entries are now open for the 2019 Ryman Prize, the only award of its kind which is targeted at improving the health of older people.
The prize winner is selected by an international jury and entry is open to the world’s brightest and best engineers, thinkers, scientists, clinicians or inventors.
The prize will go to the best discovery, invention, medical advance, idea or initiative that enhances quality of life for older people.
The Ryman Prize has been awarded four times since its launch in 2015.
Last year’s winner was Japanese inventor Takanori Shibata, Chief Senior Research Scientist at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) in Japan.
Professor Shibata was awarded the 2018 prize by The Right Honourable Jacinda Ardern, Prime Minister of New Zealand, for his tenacity in pursing new technology to help ease the burden of older people suffering from dementia.
In 1993 he set out to use the latest advances in artificial intelligence and robotics to create a device that would be a practical help to older people with conditions such as dementia.
His product, PARO, is a drug-free therapeutic robot that uses sensors, robotics and sophisticated Artificial Intelligence software to mimic a real seal.
It has been proven as an alternative to improve mood, reduce anxiety, decrease the perception of pain, enhance sleep and decrease feelings of loneliness in patients.
The 2017 Ryman Prize was won by Professor Peter St George-Hyslop, who leads research teams at Cambridge in the United Kingdom and the University of Toronto in Canada.
His research work has focused on discovering the key genes and proteins that cause cells to degenerate, causing early onset Alzheimer’s disease.
The 2016 prize went to Professor Henry Brodaty, a leading Alzheimer’s researcher, and in 2015 the award went to Gabi Hollows, the founding director of the Fred Hollows Foundation, who was recognised for her work in helping restore sight to more than a million people.
The 2018 prized attracted a record number of entries and Ryman Prize director David King is expecting more interest this year.
“The aim of the prize is to reward great work so we’re looking forward to seeing what innovations come forward this year. We also hope that the idea of winning the prize will mean that a whole lot of people out there with great ideas to help older people will put them into action.’’
“We are now entering the greatest period of demographic change the world has ever seen. As the number of people aged 75+ in the world grows, so too do the issues they face. People are living longer and their health needs are becoming more complex. We hope the prize will help address these issues.’’
The prize could go to an initiative or invention as simple as a new walking cane or mobility device, or as complex as a medical advance. In Takanori’s case, it was for more than 20 years of dedicated work into the use of technology to help solve problems of old age.
While there are plenty of prizes for medicine, there are none specifically aimed at the area of the health of older people.
The Ryman Prize, which is modelled on the Nobel Prize for medicine and the Pritzker Prize, aims to fill that gap.
Entry forms for the 2019 Ryman Prize are available at www.rymanprize.com
Entries close at midnight on Friday, June 28, 2019 (New Zealand time).
About the Ryman Prize:
The Ryman Prize is a $250,000 grant which is awarded to the best invention, idea, research concept or initiative that has enhanced quality of life for older people.
The Ryman Prize is awarded in New Zealand but is open to anyone, anywhere in the world with a bright idea.
The Ryman Prize jury includes:
- Professor Brian Draper, Conjoint Professor in the School of Psychiatry at the University of New South Wales.
- Professor Sarah Harper, Director of the Oxford Institute of Population Ageing.
- Professor Tim Wilkinson, consulting geriatrician and Associate Dean of Medical Education, Otago School of Medicine.
- Dr Naoko Muramatsu, health and ageing research specialist, University of Illinois at Chicago.
- Professor Erwin Neher, Nobel Laureate and Professor at the University of Göttingen, Germany. Dr Neher is a biophysicist who won the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1991.
- Dr David Kerr, Ryman Healthcare Chairman, Fellow and Past President of the New Zealand Medical Association, Fellow with Distinction, Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners.
