The winner of the 24th Vehbi Koç Award has been announced

According to the statement made by the foundation, the 2025 winner of the Vehbi Koç Award, which the Vehbi Koç Foundation gives every year in one of the fields of culture, education and health, has been announced.

This year's award in the field of health was presented to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Kıvanç Birsoy, Head of the Department of Metabolic Regulation and Genetics at Rockefeller University, for his work revealing metabolic pathways that play a role in cancer development and can be a treatment target.

Birsoy, who was chosen from among the 3 candidates suggested by the selection committee chaired by Prof. Dr. Ahmet Gül, Prof. Dr. Hayrunnisa Bolay Belen, Prof. Dr. Gökhan Hotamışlıgil, Prof. Dr. Tayfun Özçelik and Prof. Dr. Murat Akova, as well as the Vehbi Koç Foundation Board of Directors, is deemed worthy of the award. She leads a team that also includes researchers from Turkey.

Koç Holding Chairman Ömer Koç, whose speech at the ceremony was included in the statement, stated that they remembered their founder Vehbi Koç with mercy and gratitude on the 29th anniversary of his death.

Ömer Koç said, "Throughout his life, Vehbi Bey served the ideal of a modern and prosperous Turkey with the motto 'If my country exists, I exist. If democracy exists, we all exist.' He believed wholeheartedly in the virtues of the Turkish people, and worked passionately by devoting his life to the development of the country in every way. He enjoyed doing charity work, considering it, in his own words, 'a humanitarian and national duty', and with his determination, meticulousness and visionary perspective, he established the Vehbi Koç Foundation, Turkey's first private foundation, in 1969."

Koç, who stated that in addition to the foundation's own activities, it ensures that achievements that lead to development and shed light on young people are recognized, said that for this reason, they reward individuals and institutions that "make extraordinary contributions" in one of the fields of education, health and culture every year.

Koç stated that they have witnessed scientific and technological developments in the field of health advancing at a dizzying pace, and that humanity's search for a healthy and long life, combined with revolutionary developments in biotechnology, genetic engineering and artificial intelligence, has enabled the discovery of innovative treatment methods.

Ömer Koç, who stated that despite all the advances in health technologies in the world, cancer is still one of the problems that has not been fully solved, noted the following:

"The figures show that 1 in 5 people will contract this disease at some point in their lives. It is obvious that this picture is alarming, but the scientific studies carried out with determination for cancer treatment increase our hope. As in every field, we can reach a better future in the field of health with qualified and competent people and only by basing it on science. A very special scientist who works for a healthier future with his pioneering research and discoveries has been deemed worthy of the Vehbi Koç Award."

A SOURCE OF MOTIVATION FOR RESEARCHERS WORKING ABROAD

Kıvanç Birsoy stated that it was a great honor for him to be deemed worthy of the award and said, "The support provided by the Vehbi Koç Foundation to Turkish scientists is not only inspiring, but also a strong source of motivation for many researchers working abroad like me. Receiving this award on behalf of Vehbi Koç, a visionary who made great contributions to the development of our Republic, has a special meaning for me."

Birsoy, who pointed out that they conducted pioneering studies in the biomedical field by investigating the energy needs and nutrient usage mechanisms of cancer cells in the laboratory they established in 2015, said, "Our goal is to deeply understand the role of metabolism in cancer and other diseases and to quickly transform this information into new treatment strategies. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the Koç Family, the Vehbi Koç Foundation executives and the selection committee for deeming me worthy of this award."