以表彰他對人類皮膚感知疼痛、刺激和溫度以至產生疼痛、過敏現象背後的分子機制的開創性發現。
人類對周圍環境的感知有聽覺、視覺、嗅覺、味覺和觸覺等五種。大衛・朱利雅斯(David Julius)發現了有關的分子機制，使人類可以通過觸覺，感知疼痛，溫度和其他相關感覺。
人類能感覺疼痛，從而避開傷害，維持健康，甚至保障生命。創傷發生後，皮膚變得過敏，即使輕微的觸摸或暖和的溫度都足以產生疼痛感覺。這種過敏作用保護皮膚不再受損；但卻可能發展成為慢性痛症，打擊病人的身心健康。
The five senses we use to perceive our environment are hearing, sight, smell, taste and touch. David Julius discovered molecular mechanisms by which the sense of touch allows us to perceive pain and temperature.
The ability to detect painful stimuli is essential to our health and survival as it allows us to avoid direct contact with agents that can produce injury. Following injury, the skin becomes hypersensitive and even light touches or warm temperatures can be painful. This hypersensitivity has the positive function of protecting the skin from further injury. However, it sometimes has a negative outcome, causing the development of chronic pain syndromes that can be physiologically and psychologically devastating. In pioneering studies conducted over the past fifteen years, David Julius and his coworkers have uncovered mechanisms by which we sense pain and temperature as well as mechanisms that underlie pain hypersensitivity. His work has provided insights into fundamental mechanisms underlying the sense of touch and opened the door to rational drug design for the treatment of chronic pain syndromes.
