Dr. Jan Holmgren, MD, PhD

Senior Professor, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden

Winner of the 2026 John Dirks Canada Gairdner Global Health Award for advances in understanding cholera disease and immunity, and for the development and evaluation of safe, effective, and affordable inactivated oral cholera vaccines that have enabled cholera control worldwide.

After completing his medical and research training at UG, Jan Holmgren earned both his MD and Doctor of Medical Sciences (PhD). From 1970 to 1980, he held positions as a scientist at the Swedish Medical Research Council, after which he became Professor of Medical Microbiology and Head of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at UG. He has published over 600 papers in microbiology, immunology, and vaccinology, focusing primarily on mucosal immunology, the mechanisms of disease and immunity in cholera and other enteric infections, and the development and evaluation of oral cholera and other mucosal vaccines.

Pivotal research accomplishments—carried out with students and colleagues—include the discovery of the AB subunit structure and function of cholera toxin; identification of GM1 ganglioside as the cholera toxin receptor (the first structurally defined mammalian cell receptor); elucidation of the key immune mechanisms and protective antigens in cholera; definition of mucosal immunization routes for targeting immunity to specific sites; development of the first effective oral cholera vaccine, Dukoral; and technology transfer enabling local oral cholera vaccine production in Vietnam (ORC-Vax™) and later in India (Shanchol™ and, most recently, the single-component Hillchol™).

Dr. Holmgren is an elected member of several scientific academies and has served on the boards of numerous national and international organizations, including the Wallenberg Foundation, Gavi, icddr,b, and IVI. He has received numerous scientific awards, including the Jeantet Prize, the Fernström Nordic Prize, the Sabin Gold Medal, the Prince Mahidol Award in Public Health, and the IVI-SK ParkMahnHoon Award.

Professor Rajae Talbi, PhD

Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Physiology, Institut Courtois d’innovation biomédicale (CI²B), University of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec

Winner of the 2026 Early Career Investigator Award for her work's fundamental insights into why metabolic disorders can impair fertility and why reproductive transitions profoundly influence metabolism, laying the foundation for future therapeutic advances.

Rajae Talbi is a PhD neuroendocrinologist and Assistant Professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Physiology at the University of Montreal, and a Principal Investigator at the Institut Courtois d’innovation biomédicale (CI²B). Her research investigates how the brain prioritizes and integrates the body’s metabolic and reproductive needs, two tightly interconnected physiological systems essential for survival and species propagation. By defining how the brain integrates metabolic information to balance fertility with whole-body homeostasis, her work seeks to understand why reproductive and metabolic disorders so often occur together.

Her laboratory combines genetic, molecular and systems neuroscience approaches to uncover the brain circuits that coordinate metabolic and reproductive signals. Her research provides fundamental insights into why metabolic disorders can impair fertility and why reproductive transitions profoundly influence metabolism, laying the foundation for future therapeutic advances. Ultimately, her work aims to advance new strategies for reproductive and metabolic disorders, including functional hypothalamic amenorrhea, menopausal hot flushes and metabolic hypogonadism.

Dr. Talbi’s research has been recognized through numerous prestigious awards, including the Lalor foundation fellowship, the Charles A. King fellowship, the Women in Endocrinology Young Investigator Award, the Women’s brain initiative Award, and the IBRO Rising Stars Awards.