The University of Oxford's Professor Dame Sarah Gilbert has been named a Laureate of the 5th Sunhak Peace Prize for her efforts to protect global health during the COVID-19 pandemic.
She was honoured alongside other new Laureates during a ceremony in South Korea to mark the World Summit 2022 (Summit for Peace on the Korean Peninsula).
Saïd Professor of Vaccinology Sarah Gilbert told the ceremony said: ‘It is a very great honour to be selected to receive the Sunhak Peace Prize, and to follow on from the prestigious laureates who have received the award in previous years. We can achieve so much when we work together, each bringing our different strengths.
‘The work we did to produce the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine was exhausting and overwhelming at times, but ultimately vital and rewarding. I hope that many young people will be inspired in their career choice by knowing about what we achieved, and that governments and international organisations will work together to ensure that next time we need to respond to a disease threat, we will be better prepared than we were in 2020.’
Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, was also honoured for its contributions in coordinating COVAX, an initiative aiming to provide fair and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines worldwide.
The biennial Sunhak Peace Prize was founded in 2013 and honours individuals and organizations that have demonstrated service service to global peace and well-being in one of three areas – sustainable human development, conflict resolution or ecological conservation.
Dr Hak Ha Jan Moon created the prize to honour the legacy of her late husband, Rev Dr Sun Myung Moon, who dedicated his life to build a global culture of peace with the theme, ‘One Family Under God.’
