Clinical epidemiologist Quarraisha Abdool Karim and pediatrician and health expert Zulfiqar A. Bhutta will receive the Virchow Prize 2025 in recognition of their decades of dedication to improving maternal, neonatal and child healthcare - especially in low- and middle-income countries. The Software AG Foundation has supported the award, which is endowed with 500,000 euros, as a sponsoring partner since 2023.

The Virchow Prize honors individuals who contribute to the improvement of transnational health care through scientific excellence and social commitment. Quarraisha Abdool Karim, clinical epidemiologist at the Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA) and professor at Columbia University in New York, was able to fundamentally improve HIV prevention in young women through her studies on the effect of antiretroviral drugs. She has also been committed to promoting African women scientists and building local research capacities for many years. Zulfiqar A. Bhutta, pediatrician and public health expert at Aga Khan University in Pakistan and SickKids Hospital in Canada, has significantly influenced the work of the WHO and national health policies with his research on nutrition, mother-child health and community-based care. He is particularly interested in locally driven solutions, for example through the establishment of programs for health workers.

"Both laureates embody Virchow's tradition of combining scientific rigor with social awareness and advancing practices in global health that are empirically grounded, equity-oriented and politically transformative," said Christoph Markschies, President of the Virchow Foundation and the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities, explaining the jury's decision. The award, which was established in 2022, is intended to continue the legacy of the German physician and social reformer Rudolf Virchow (1821-1902). The aim is to make outstanding contributions to fairer healthcare systems visible worldwide. "The Virchow Prize gives a stage to those who achieve outstanding things in the background - both in scientific and human terms," says SAGST Board Member Dr. Johannes Stellmann. "As a foundation that is committed to holistic development conditions, we have been supporting this award with great conviction since 2023. This is because it draws attention to the often forgotten realities of disadvantaged people's lives and to solutions that have a lasting impact." More than 300 international guests from academia, politics, business and civil society are expected to attend the award ceremony on October 11 at the Rotes Rathaus in Berlin - a strong signal of the importance of global responsibility for health in a time of increasing crisis.