On 13 March 2024, Chulabhorn Royal Academy and Princess Chulabhorn Award Foundation (PCAF) under the Royal Patronage of Her Royal Highness Princess Chulabhorn Krom Phra Srisavangavadhana held a joint press conference for the Announcement of the First Princess Chulabhorn Award of 2023, at Chulabhorn Royal Academy, with Mr. Thanawat Sirikul, Deputy Director-General of the Department of Information and Deputy Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs attending.

The Princess Chulabhorn Award was established on 4 July 2022 under the Princess Chulabhorn Award Foundation to commemorate the 65th birthday anniversary of Professor Dr. Her Royal Highness Princess Chulabhorn Krom Phra Srisavangavadhana, who has been perpetually devoting her time and efforts to scientific and medical research, education development, knowledge, and technology exchanges for the better health of Thai people, particularly patients with cancer, and for the country’s sustainable development. Her Royal Highness Princess Chulabhorn established Chulabhorn Hospital for people with cancer on 29 October 2009. The hospital has provided excellent health care services and is widely recognized for cancer investigation, treatment, and care by the Thai people at large.

Princess Chulabhorn Award Foundation is a private foundation duly constituted, chartered, and registered under Thai law. The primary purpose is to confer the international award to an individual researcher or scientist in the field of cancer treatment, control, and care for the benefit of mankind and the well-being of people.

The first Princess Chulabhorn laureate for the year 2023 is Professor Dr. Abass Alavi, from the U.S.A. He and his team devised the concept of labeling deoxyglucose with positron-emitting fluoride (18F), which led to the development of fluodoxyglucose (FDG), the first clinically approved radiopharmaceutical for PET imaging that is still widely used today. Dr. Alavi became the first to administer 18 F-FDG to a human subject in 1976 and introduced 18 F-FDG-PET for imaging cancer, infection, inflammation, atherosclerosis, clot detection, and muscle disorders, earning his title as the “Father of Nuclear Medicine”.

The Presentation Ceremony of Princess Chulabhorn Award 2023 and Dr. Alavi’s lecture titled “Molecular and Nuclear Imaging in Cancer Care” will be held on 14 July 2024, followed by the conference “Thailand against Cancer as one” during 14-15 July 2024.