NOBEL PRIZE FOR CHEMISTRY 2002

Published on March 21, 2024 in Communication

Prof. Christophe Hirtz was honored to welcome Mr Koichi Tanaka, winner of the 2002 Nobel Prize for Chemistry and engineer for Shimadzu, who came to Montpellier to visit the Clinical Proteomics Platform(PPC) at Montpellier University Hospital(IRMB Saint Eloi/UM).

Pr. Hirtz has been collaborating with Mr. Tanaka and Shimadzu for over 8 years on innovative mass spectrometry developments for the determination of biomarkers of clinical interest.

The visit took place in the presence of Mme A. Ferrer(Director of Montpellier University Hospital), Pr. J-C. Durand(Dean of the Faculty of Odontology), Prof. D. Deville de Périère(former President of Montpellier 1 University and member of the PPC), Prof. C. Jorgensen(Director of the IRMB, head of the Immune4cure IHU), Prof. S Lehmann (Director of the INM) and a delegation of Shimadzu executives.

Mr. Tanaka did us the honor of giving a twenty-minute talk on the future (r)evolutions of mass spectrometry, with references to anime (pikachu!). What we'll take away from this very special moment with Mr. Tanaka is an incredible vision of science and an astonishing humility for the winner of one of the most prestigious scientific prizes, which he refers to as "the prize" and never as "the Nobel Prize".