Here Are the Award Winners from SSSD 2023
From studies of genetic susceptibility to new techniques for non-invasive monitoring, the awards at the SSSD annual meeting celebrate the best of Scandinavian diabetes research.
Today is the last day of the 57th annual meeting of the Scandinavian Society for the Study of Diabetes (SSSD) – a meeting aiming to facilitate and strengthen collaboration in Scandinavian diabetes research.
This year, SSSD 2023 takes place at Steno Diabetes Centre Aarhus, and the Danish Diabetes and Endocrine Academy helped organise the meeting.
Over the course of the meeting, five research awards have been given out: The Knud Lundbæk Award, the SSSD Young Investigator Award, the Novo Nordisk Foundation Lecture Prize, and the Swedish Child Diabetes Foundation’s Johnny Ludvigsson Prizes.
The awards acknowledge researchers from Scandinavia who have made significant contributions to the field of diabetes.
The Knud Lundbæk Award – Riitta Veijola
Riitta Veijola receives the Knud Lundbæk Award in recognition of her long-standing, high-quality, and innovative work to increase the understanding of the pathogenesis of childhood and adolescent type 1 diabetes, as well as her work to improve the care of young individuals with preclinical or clinical type 1 diabetes. Her achievements include impressive studies of genetic susceptibility to type 1 diabetes and prospective cohort studies examining the role of autoantibodies and other predictors in the development of type 1 diabetes.
“It is a great honour, and I’m very delighted to receive the Knud Lundbæk Award 2023. Since the early 1990s, my research has focused on understanding the risk factors and disease process resulting in type 1 diabetes, with the aim to develop prevention for the disease. This award is a great encouragement for me to work even harder towards this goal,” says Riitta Veijola.
The SSSD Young Investigator Award – Kamilla La Haganes
Kamilla La Haganes receives the SSSD Young Investigator Award in recognition of her work on the effects of time-restricted eating and exercise training on HbA1c and body composition. She and her colleagues published a randomised control trial on this topic in Cell Metabolism last year, with her as the first author, showing how the combination of time-restricted eating and exercise training could improve HbA1c and body composition in women with overweight or obesity.
“I feel very honoured to receive this award. Being in a very early stage of my research career, it makes me truly realise the importance and the great impact a well-conducted clinical trial can have, and I am happy to feel like a part of a great and inspiring international research community,” says Kamilla La Haganes.
The Novo Nordisk Foundation Lecture Prize – Jens Juul Holst
Jens Juul Holst receives the Novo Nordisk Foundation Lecture Prize for his discoveries that have strongly influenced how people with obesity or type 2 diabetes are treated today. Jens is an internationally recognised researcher with an extensive career who put gut hormones on the world map and helped make findings to help treat type 2 diabetes and obesity with GLP-1 receptor agonists and DPP-4 inhibitors.
“I am incredibly pleased to receive the prize, and I am especially happy that the prize also provides money for my research. We are a busy team, so having the money to investigate all the things we want means a lot,” says Jens Juul Holst in an interview with the Novo Nordisk Foundation.
The Swedish Child Diabetes Foundation’s Nordic Johnny Ludvigsson Prize – Jesper Johannesen
Jesper Johannesen receives the Nordic Johnny Ludvigsson Prize for his contribution to understanding the mechanisms behind the development of type 1 diabetes. He has conducted both clinical and basic research in type 1 diabetes for more than 25 years, focusing on metabolic and hormonal conditions in children and young people with diabetes. Jesper Johannesen has a significant scientific output and has been the driving force behind organising several international research collaborations in the field of diabetes.
"My hope is that through this research, both now and in the future, we can help many children with type 1 diabetes and their families achieve a blood sugar level that is as close to normal as possible. Receiving this award confirms the importance of this challenging task, which I will continue with great respect for these families," says Jesper Johannesen to the Danish Diabetes Association.
The Swedish Child Diabetes Foundation’s Johnny Ludvigsson Prize to A Young Researcher in Type 1 Diabetes – Olof Eriksson
Olof Eriksson receives the Johnny Ludvigsson’s Prize to A Young Researcher in Type 1 Diabetes for his production of scientific publications, which stand out for their contribution to the field, particularly in the development and validation of innovative non-invasive monitoring techniques for various processes involved in the development of type 1 diabetes.
“It means a lot, especially when I know how many talented diabetes researchers there are. Winning this award feels like a confirmation that the research I am conducting is going in the right direction. This award also makes me feel that you can really make a difference for all the families out there who live with type 1 diabetes,” says Olof Eriksson to Uppsala University.
Congratulations to all the winners!