The Montreal Clinical Research Institute (IRCM) is proud to announce that Dr. Nabil G. Seidah, Director of the Biochemical Neuroendocrinology Research Unit and Full Professor in the Department of Medicine at Université de Montréal, is the recipient of the 2025 Great Arab Minds Award in the Medicine category.
This distinction, granted by the United Arab Emirates, honours major scientific contributions on an international scale and can, without exaggeration, be compared to a Nobel Prize for the Arab world.
The award highlights the exceptional impact of Dr. Seidah’s work on cardiovascular health and lipid metabolism. A pioneer in the discovery of the PCSK9 protein, he paved the way for a new generation of drugs— the PCSK9 inhibitors—now widely used to lower LDL cholesterol and prevent cardiovascular disease. His research, which includes more than 815 publications, has also advanced understanding of conditions such as fatty liver disease, dyslipidemia, obesity, inflammation, certain cancers and their metastases, and viral entry mechanisms into cells, thereby contributing to major therapeutic breakthroughs.
“Dr. Seidah’s visionary approach perfectly illustrates IRCM’s mission in biomedical research: pushing the boundaries of knowledge in the service of human health. His discoveries, bridging fundamental biology and clinical applications, embody our commitment to developing innovative solutions to address major public health challenges’’, said Dr. Jean-François Côté, President and Scientific Director of IRCM.
Dr. Seidah will receive his award from the ruler of the United Arab Emirates in Dubai on January 15, 2026.
