(Listed in alphabetical order)
- Gerard Bryan Gonzales, Ghent University
- Ehsan Hoque, University of Rochester
- James Peter Allinson, Royal Brompton Hospital, London, United Kingdom
- Leonie Wenz, Potdam Institute for Climate Impact Research
Gerard Bryan Gonzales – Citation
Gerard Bryan Gonzales is an Associate Professor of Human Nutrition at Ghent University (Belgium). His research on data-driven approaches to child malnutrition is widely recognized and has significantly advanced the field of nutrition and global health. Simultaneously, his dedication to mentorship has provided numerous opportunities for young scientist from a variety of backgrounds.
Dr. Gonzales applyes advanced omics sciences, nutrition, and data-driven approaches to tackle childhood malnutrition. Dr. Gonzales transdisciplinary research bridges science, policy, and global health to combat childhood malnutrition and drive nutrition policy reforms. Dr. Gonzales research seeks to understand disease pathophysiology to inform clinical care, public health interventions, and global nutrition policies in collaboration with WHO, UNICEF, and MSF. His work also contributes to developing innovative therapeutic strategies, capacity-strengthening, and global health initiatives in low- and middle-income countries.
Dr. Gonzales’s research centers on the critical role of nutrition in child health, particularly focusing on severe acute malnutrition (SAM) in children. He investigates the systemic inflammation and metabolic thriftiness during in-patient treatment of children with complicated SAM. The research addresses key questions about inflammation, immune reconstitution, and metabolic reactivation, aiming to improve treatment outcomes and reduce mortality rates.
Dr. Gonzales and his team highlighted guidelines for developing Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Foods (RUTF) using alternative local ingredients, ensuring high-quality proteins and essential fatty acids for malnourished children. Alongside this work, he has documented and highlighted the challenges and opportunities in doing high technology studies in low- and middle-income countries. He is a strong voice arguing for the need for equitable scientific collaboration in omics research and the strengthening of local capacity.
Beyond research, Dr. Gonzales is deeply engaged in policy and advocacy, including participating in three WHO missions (2023 – 2024) in war-torn Ukraine to support national nutrition efforts, particularly in trans-fat elimination. These contributions reflect his commitment to scientific excellence, interdisciplinary collaboration, and policy impact, ensuring that cutting-edge research translates into real-world solutions for malnourished children globally.
With his strong commitment to global health to combat childhood malnutrition and drive nutrition policy reforms, Dr. Gonzales is a highly deserving candidate for the Runner-Up Award of the Letten Prize.
Ehsan Hoque – Citation
Eshan Hoque, PhD, is a Professor at the Computer Science Department at University of Rochester in New York. In his work, he focuses on integrating Artificial Intelligence in health diagnosis in ways that aim to better the lives of people who do not have access to medical practitioners, thus securing equity and equal access across the world.
A specific application that Dr. Hoque has built is PARK, Parkinson’s Analysis with Remote Kinetic Tasks, which is a web-based screening tool that can be used to automatically analyse video recordings of participants doing simple motor tasks. The application has high accuracy in detecting parkinsonian symptoms. Using such accessible tools, people who live in remote regions with limited means for travel or where specialised practitioners may be rare or expensive to consult, will stand a better chance of getting the right diagnosis.
Dr. Hoque does not only care about building tools that can perform these feats – he is also involved in getting them approved by medical authorities, such that they can safely be used across the world. In his own words, his research has become a mission to him, as close relatives of him suffered from Parkinson’s disease with no means to get treatment.
For his unique and applied research into the matters of bringing equity to the health condition of people across the globe, Dr. Hoque is a worthy candidate for the Letten Prize Runners-up Award.
James Peter Allinson – Citation
James Peter Allinson is a respiratory physician and epidemiologist whose research has transformed our understanding of the origins, diagnosis, and prevention of chronic lung diseases. Based at Imperial College London and the Royal Brompton Hospital, his work redefines chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)—a leading global cause of death—not simply as a consequence of smoking, but as the cumulative result of early-life exposures, socioeconomic conditions, and missed opportunities for intervention across the life course. His findings challenge conventional narratives and point to the urgent need for more equitable, preventive approaches to lung health.
Dr. Allinson has also made critical advances in how lung function is interpreted globally. His work revealed that lung function among Europeans has increased significantly over the last century—insights that call into question standard diagnostic equations and the use of racially-adjusted lung function norms. In response, he has developed new reference models that more accurately reflect changing population health and promote fairness in medical diagnostics.
Dr. Allinson’s research is international in both scope and collaboration, with impacts ranging from clinical trials to population health strategies. He plays an active role in disseminating his findings to clinicians, policymakers, and the public.
For his pioneering work linking respiratory health to social determinants, his efforts to correct global diagnostic inequalities, and his deep commitment to improving health outcomes through science, Dr. James Peter Allinson is a highly deserving candidate for the Runner-Up Award of the Letten Prize.
Leoni Wenz – Citation
Leoni Wenz is Lead of research lab Societal Transitions and Wellbeing at Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), since 2025. Previously, she was Head of research group Data-based Analysis of Climate Decisions at PIK, since 2019. She works in an interdisciplinary field of research, the so-called field of Environmental Economy. As Lead of research, she is deeply interested in the link between the environment and human wellbeing. Specifically, she seeks to quantify climate impacts on various wellbeing aspects, including economic development, human health, and societal cohesion, thus addressing several of the Sustainable Development Goals. Concerning this topic, she said that: “such quantifications are challenging and complex – due to e.g. interaction and cross-boundary effects – but crucial: key figures, tools and concepts used for climate change adaptation, mitigation and litigation decisions require cost estimates”.
Her research seeks to quantify the impact of climate change and inequalities with the aim of informing sustainable adaptation and development strategies. To this end, she combines a variety of data sources, from macroeconomic figures to indicators of day-to-day behaviour. She analyses them with a mix of quantitative methods, including statistics, econometrics, machine learning and numerical modelling. This focus on the details of climate impacts in space and time has enabled her research group to identify several novel impact channels in the climate-economy relationship, thus demonstrating that the costs of climate damages by far exceed those of ambitious climate action. As she stated, “such macroeconomic assessments are useful for policymaking because they provide aggregate damage estimates in monetary values”.
On the other hand, Dr. Leoni Wenz is a scientist that has a high commitment to widely spreading research results beyond the academic boundaries. Because of that, she has a lot of media mentions and in 2024 one of her papers was ranked the second-most important climate paper. She continuously disseminates her research results beyond the scientific community via media appearances, briefings and talks. Her findings were not only published in leading academic journals such as Nature, Science, or The Lancet Planetary Health but also picked up by national governments like the US White House, international organizations like the OECD, and supranational institutions like the European Central Bank.
For her excellent research on the field of Environmental Economics, Dr. Wenz is a very worthy candidate for the Letten Prize Runner-up Award.