FNIH Names Shingo Kajimura, PhD, as Recipient of Montrone-Seigel Prize in Biomedical Sciences

NORTH BETHESDA, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH) will award the Montrone-Seigel Prize in Biomedical Sciences to molecular biologist Shingo Kajimura, PhD. He and his team discovered a critical biological pathway that allows the body to maintain metabolic health – and could lead to new ways to prevent or treat obesity, diabetes and cardiometabolic disorders.

“Dr. Kajimura is exactly the kind of exceptional scientist this prize was created to recognize and support,” said Fred Seigel, a member of the FNIH Board of Directors who established this award with Paul Montrone, PhD, Director Emeritus of the FNIH Board. “His research has overturned long-held assumptions about metabolic regulation and reflects the bold thinking that drives real breakthroughs in human health.”

As part of their research in bioenergetics – how the body makes, uses, and balances energy – Dr. Kajimura and his team made an unexpected discovery about brown fat, long thought to simply generate heat by burning calories. They found that it plays an important role in metabolic health, including blood sugar regulation, fat metabolism, insulin sensitivity and protection against metabolic disease. His work revealed previously unrecognized molecular pathways that control these processes. Dr. Kajimura and his colleagues are working to identify and potentially correct molecular defects responsible for impaired energy metabolism. Their research has broad implications for metabolic disorders, certain cancers and aging and could lead to new approaches to prevent and treat disease.

“I am truly honored to receive the Montrone-Seigel Prize, which also belongs to the talented fellows, students, and collaborators who have worked with me over the years,” Dr. Kajimura said. “I am profoundly grateful to Paul Montrone, Fred Seigel, and FNIH for their extraordinary generosity and for recognizing curiosity-driven science that can open new frontiers in improving human health.”

Dr. Kajimura is a Harvard Medical School professor of medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and an associate member of the Broad Institute. He is also co-director of the Post-Baccalaureate Program in Diabetes & Metabolism Research with the BIDMC and Joslin Diabetes Center, Boston.

The Montrone-Seigel Prize includes a $100,000 honorarium and recognizes outstanding scientists whose basic, clinical or translational research programs promise to achieve breakthroughs that advance human health and well-being.

The FNIH is grateful for the work of the jury of distinguished biomedical research leaders who selected Dr. Kajimura as the 2026 Montrone-Seigel Prize recipient. The jury is co-chaired by Carl Nathan, MD, R.A. Rees Pritchett Professor, Chairman Emeritus, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Weill Cornell Medicine; and Cynthia Wolberger, PhD, Professor and Director, Department of Biophysics and Biophysical Chemistry, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Dr. Kajimura will receive the award at the FNIH Celebration of Science: 14th Annual FNIH Awards Ceremony on Oct. 28, 2026, in Washington, D.C. The 2026 Paul-Gallin Trailblazer Prize for Physician-Scientists; the Charles A. Sanders, MD, Partnership Award; and the Kovler Prize for Trust in Life Science Journalism also will be presented during the ceremony.

The FNIH gratefully acknowledges its Celebration of Science Premier Sponsors, Fred and Donna Seigel and Perry Steiner and Vanessa Kay, and Visionary Sponsor Pfizer, Inc. For more information about the Montrone-Seigel Prize, visit FNIH.org/MontroneSeigel.

About the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health

The Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH) builds public-private partnerships that connect leading biomedical scientists at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) with their counterparts in life sciences companies, academia, patient organizations, foundations, and regulatory agencies (including the Food and Drug Administration and European Medicines Agency). Through team science, the FNIH solves complex health challenges and accelerates breakthroughs for patients, regardless of who they are or what health threats they face. The FNIH contributes to the development of new therapies, diagnostics, and potential cures; advances global health; and helps train the next generations of scientists. Established by Congress to support the mission of the NIH, the FNIH is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) charitable organization. For more information about the FNIH, please visit fnih.org.