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Research Bridge-builder Awarded the 2014 Hagedorn Prize

The 2014 Hagedorn Prize has been awarded to Professor Bo Feldt-Rasmussen, Rigshospitalet. The Prize rewards a researcher for excellent research or development achievements within a field of internal medicine in Denmark and includes an accompanying award of DKK 250,000.

Bo Feldt-Rasmussen heads the Department of Nephrology and is known as bridge-builder between medical specialties and research groups.

Bo Feldt-Rasmussen’s department is Denmark’s largest. His laboratory researches questions relevant to people with kidney disease. The laboratory works closely with many specialties, including cardiology (related to heart disease) and endocrinology (related to diabetes).

During his research career, the 60-year-old professor has made important discoveries that have been significant for treating people with kidney disease and diabetes.

Bo Feldt-Rasmussen has been selected to receive the 2014 Hagedorn Prize and the accompanying DKK 250,000 for his outstanding achievements over many years. The Danish Society for Internal Medicine awards the Prize in collaboration with the Novo Nordisk Foundation.

– Bo Feldt-Rasmussen has made a unique contribution to clarifying the mechanisms of disease and investigate new types of treatment for people who have both diabetes and kidney disease. He has a very high profile both as a clinical physician and a researcher in Denmark and internationally, says Susanne Bro, senior physician and Vice Chair of the Danish Society for Internal Medicine.

Bo Feldt-Rasmussen has headed the Department of Nephrology of Rigshospitalet – Copenhagen University Hospital since 1994. His findings have helped to explain why microalbuminuria is a serious condition: the increased excretion of albumin in urine indicates kidney disease and an elevated risk of death among people with heart disease. As the Department head, Bo Feldt-Rasmussen has also driven the issuing of national guidelines on collaboration between the fields of diabetology and nephrology and Nordic guidelines on the diagnosis, management and treatment of glucometabolic disorders emerging after kidney transplantation.

Bo Feldt-Rasmussen specialized in diabetology earlier in his career. He carried out one of the first studies on insulin infusion pumps and achieved pioneering results on blood pressure and elevated salt retention. Together with senior physician Torsten Deckert of Steno Diabetes Center, Bo Feldt-Rasmussen also developed the Steno hypothesis, which continues to underpin research into the mechanisms underlying malignant angiopathy among people with diabetes.

– I have always focused on building bridges to see how we can learn from each other and be inspired by other specialties and methods to benefit patients, says Bo Feldt-Rasmussen.

– I am extremely happy, surprised and proud to receive the Hagedorn Prize. This is the greatest collegial recognition I can imagine as a physician, clinician and researcher. Although the Prize is a personal reward, I also consider it a prize for the entire field of nephrology and recognition of the importance of this field, he concludes.

Bo Feldt-Rasmussen has published 175 scientific articles.

THE PRIZE CEREMONY

The Prize ceremony will take place on Friday, 21 March 2014 at 15:45, in connection with the annual meeting of the Danish Society for Internal Medicine, at the offices of the Novo Nordisk Foundation, Tuborg Havnevej 19, DK-2900 Hellerup, Denmark. Bo Feldt-Rasmussen will be available at the annual meeting and will give a talk on his research. Media representatives who want to participate should contact Kirsten Koch, secretary to the Danish Society for Internal Medicine, at +45 3544 8403 or [email protected].

FURTHER INFORMATION

The Prize winner Bo Feldt-Rasmussen, phone: (+45) 3545 1019, e-mail: [email protected].
Susanne Bro, DVice Chair of the Danish Society for Internal Medicine, phone.: (+45) 3545 0732, e-mail: [email protected]
Christian Mostrup Scheel, Press Officer, Novo Nordisk Foundation, phone: (+45) 3067 4805, e-mail: [email protected]

Read more on the Hagedorn Prize here.