Dunedin Study director Prof Richie Poulton and senior researcher Prof Murray Thomson accepted the medal last night at a ceremony at the Glenroy Auditorium, in Dunedin.
The medal comes with a prize of $100,000.
Associate director Prof Terrie Moffitt and senior investigator Ashalom Caspi, of Duke University, were also named on the award.
The study has followed the lives of more than 1000 people born in 1972 and 1973, tracking their health, development and wellbeing.
A University of Otago spokeswoman said the study was renowned for generating cross-disciplinary knowledge about a wide range of issues, such as the influence of childhood experiences on adult life success, the relationship between nature and nurture, and adult ageing and disease.
The researchers have collectively produced more than 1400 peer-reviewed journal articles, books, chapters and assorted reporters on wellbeing, health and development.
Prof Poulton said the medal meant "a great deal".
"The Dunedin Study represents the one point of continuity in my professional life, and to be part of the team that won the award is a thrill."
He attributed the success of the study to a combination of "bloody hard work, attention to maintaining and respecting the cohort, and looking beyond the immediate horizon".
Prof Thompson said the participants had been "so generous" to let the researchers into their lives for so long.
Other researchers who received honours were Prof David Hutchinson (Thomson Medal), Prof Stephen Robertson (Hercus Medal), Dr Kenneth Dodds (Jones Medal), Dr Lena Collienne (Hatherton Award), with Early Career Research Excellence Awards going to Dr Anna High (Early Career Research Excellence Award) and Dr Christina Ergler (Early Career Research Excellence Award).
