AkzoNobel Science Award 2009 Winners Announced

05-Mar-2009 - Netherlands

Two Swedish professors have been named as the winners of this year’s AkzoNobel Science Award, which is presented annually in recognition of groundbreaking interdisciplinary research. The honor will officially be handed over later this month to Professor Carl Borrebaeck and Professor Thomas Laurell, who both work at Lund University.

Professor Borrebaeck has been recognized for his research into antibody engineering for the generation of human antibodies as biological pharmaceuticals useful for human therapy. Professor Laurell – one of the pioneers in Sweden of so-called “lab-on-a-chip” technology – has been honored for his research into new microchip technologies in the area of biomedicine, biochemistry and nanobiotechnology, with a focus on nanoproteomics.

Carl Borrebaeck is a professor and prefect at the Department of Immunotechnology at Lund University. His research has made it possible to design microarrays enabling the diagnosis of complex diseases, such as cancer. This opens up novel possibilities to diagnose cancer earlier and with much improved accuracy, as well as predicting tumor relapses in some cases. This means that appropriate therapies can start at an earlier stage, improving the chances for increased survival.

Thomas Laurell is a professor at the Department of Measurement Technology and Industrial Electrical Engineering, Division of Nanobiotechnology, at Lund University. His research has helped to advance lab-on-a-chip technology to detect extremely low levels of substances and other biomarkers that correlate to diseases. In addition, he has conducted groundbreaking work on the separation of different blood components and types of cells using a unique ultrasonic method.

https://www.chemeurope.com/en/news/97814/akzonobel-science-award-2009-winners-announced.html