Highlights
Our achievements
Several prestigious prizes were awarded to our researchers. We are proud of their achievements and congratulate the winners wholeheartedly. Here you can find a selection of the award highlights of 2021.Royal decorations for Jolanda de Vries and Nicoline Hoogerbrugge
Nicoline Hoogerbrugge and Jolanda de Vries were appointed by His Majesty as Knight in the Order of the Dutch Lion, a highly prestigious decoration. read moreYoung Investigator Award for Alex Garanto
Alex Garanto has been honored with the 2021 Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. publishers Young Investigator Award. read moreYoung Investigator Award for Alex Garanto
Alex Garanto, Metabolic disorders has been honored with the 2021 Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. publishers Young Investigator Award of the Oligonucleotide Therapeutics Society (OTS) in recognition to his contribution to the development of antisense oligonucleotide to treat inherited retinal diseases. The award will be presented on 28 September during the 2021 Annual Meeting of the OTS.
Helma Pluk winner of RIMLS Award
Helma Pluk, coordinator of our research master 'Molecular Mechanism of Disease', won the annual RIMLS award. read moreHelma Pluk winner of RIMLS Award
The RIMLS award is an annual prize for people who have contributed a lot to the RIMLS institute. Helma Pluk is the coordinator of our research master ‘Molecular Mechanisms of Disease’. Over the last 10 years, she has managed this program and the highly talented students and contributed to the heart of our institute. Last year the master program was extensively evaluated with excellent reviews. We are proud to have Helma Pluk as our colleague.
Jolanda de Vries and Ronald van Rij appointed members of the Academia Europaea
This European society of scientists harbors the world's top scientists. read moreJolanda de Vries and Ronald van Rij appointed members of the Academia Europaea
Jolanda de Vries, Vascular damage and Ronald van Rij, Infectious diseases and global health, were recently appointed members of the Academia Europaea, the European society of scientists who are among the world's top scientists.
The Academia Europaea gathers over two thousand scientists from Europe across the breadth of science. Each year, the most outstanding international candidates are selected.
Hermesdorf Prizes for COVID-19 research team and Charlotte Bekker
The entire COVID-19 research team at Radboudumc, which includes Frank van de Veerdonk, Mihai Netea, Roger Brüggemann, Leo Joosten and Alexander Hoischen, received the Hermesdorf Prize. Charlotte Bekker was awarded the Hermesdorf Talent Prize. read moreHermesdorf Prizes for COVID-19 research team and Charlotte Bekker
The entire COVID-19 research team at Radboudumc, which includes Frank van de Veerdonk, Mihai Netea, Roger Brüggemann, Leo Joosten and Alexander Hoischen, received the 2020 Hermesdorf Prize. Charlotte Bekker was awarded the Hermesdorf Talent Prize.
Each year, the Hermesdorf Prizes are presented to senior researchers of Radboud University or Radboudumc. The Hermesdorf Talent Prize goes to a scientist at the start of her/his career. The awards are named after Prof. B.H.D. Hermesdorf, Rector Magnificus of Radboud University from late 1942 to September 1945. For reasons of principle he - as the sole Dutch Rector Magnificus - refused to present students with a declaration of loyalty to the German occupying forces, which inevitably led to the university’s closure in April 1943. He refrained from compromising his principles in trying times.
In the tradition of its namesake, the award is presented to researchers who have demonstrated unusual courage, have exerted an uncommon level of effort, or have not shied away from resistance. The award consists of a certificate and a small plaque with the image of Prof. Hermesdorf.
Winner of the Hermesdorf Prize 2020
The entire COVID-19 research team at Radboud university medical center, which includes Frank van de Veerdonk, Mihai Netea, Roger Brüggemann, Leo Joosten and Alexander Hoischen.
2020 was the year of the coronavirus pandemic, with nearly 1.5 million deaths worldwide, more than 60 million infections and each society muddling through the balancing act between life as usual and full lockdowns. Scientists from Radboudumc played a prominent role in the COVID-19 research, in which the bradykinin hypothesis, the BCG study and the genetic vulnerability for SARS-CoV-2 stood out.
In an unprecedentedly hectic year, they conducted impressive research into treatment of the corona virus. When the team of infectiologists published their hypotheses about the virus in April, the Volkskrant wrote “it grabbed the attention of doctors, scientists and pharmacists all over the world”. It is also commendable that during this busy period they still make time to explain and elaborate on these findings in national and international media outlets.
Winner of the Hermesdorf Talent Prize 2020
Charlotte Bekker, affiliated with Radboudumc, for her research on how to avoid wasting unused medicines.
Many unused medicines could, after a quality check in the pharmacy, be dispensed to another patient who needs exactly that medicine. However, current legislation does not permit that. The risk that a medicine has been stored incorrectly and its quality has deteriorated over time is considered too great. Bekker has therefore devised a special method to make reissue possible.
Anti-cancer drugs are packaged in special packaging, with a seal and a temperature logger. If these drugs are excess to requirements and are returned to the pharmacy, the seal is carefully checked to ensure it is not broken, that the drug has not been used, and that the storage temperature was not too high or too low. After a thorough check in the pharmacy, the drug can be safely dispensed to another patient. An exception to the existing legislation has been requested for this.
Hans Bloemendal Medal 2021 for Laura Kiessling
The Hans Bloemendal Medal for 2021 was awarded to Professor Laura Kiessling, in recognition of her groundbreaking work on carbohydrate-mediated interactions in cell-cell recognition and signal transduction. read moreHans Bloemendal Medal 2021 for Laura Kiessling
Laura Kiessling is a Novartis Professor of Chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. MIT is also the place where she started her scientific training in chemistry. She continued her education in organic chemistry doing her PhD at Yale University. After being an American Cancer Society postdoc at California Institute of Technology, she became a professor in chemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1991 and was director of the Keck Center for Chemical Genomics. She moved back to MIT in 2017.
She has made seminal contributions to the fields of organic synthesis, polymer chemistry and molecular biology. In addition to synthesis of glycosyl donors, modified peptides and glycopolymers, she exploits these molecules to probe carbohydrate-mediated interactions in cellular recognition and signal transduction processes. Her finding that multivalent ligands can influence receptor-ligand binding and active signaling to target immune responses has opened the way to targeted immunotherapy and other treatments.
A vast list of awards and memberships illustrates the appreciation of her research contributions by the broad scientific community. On top of that, she served as the founding editor-in-chief of ACS Chemical Biology and contributed to the education of many young chemists and biochemists. Her dedication to teaching is exemplified by the position she held previously as director of the National Institutes of Health Chemistry-Biology Interface Training Program.
Best Image Award for Mariya Chernyavska
The image ‘Setting a tumor on fire’ was selected by our Microscopy Image Center. read moreBest Image Award for Mariya Chernyavska
Best Image ''Setting a tumor on fire'':
Jury comments
Good image, dynamic, you can imagen that things are happening in this situation. It tells a story.
Mariya Chernyavska