EAU awards mark high quality urology research in Europe and beyond

More than twenty awards for excellence in urology research were handed out during the 25th Anniversary EAU Congress, marking outstanding achievements presented at the meeting.

“What makes the EAU Congress a success is the quality of its scientific contents,” said Prof. Per-Anders Abrahamsson in his opening speech on 16 April 2010. “The scientific contents on the other hand is a collaborative effort of all the participating specialists.”

“Every year the congress draws on the dedication and professionalism of urologists from around the world and the fact that we are never short of excellent nominees for EAU awards reflects the high standards that the international urological community adheres to today.”

The opening ceremony concluded with an award ceremony during which the most prestigious EAU awards were handed out. The Willy Gregoir Medal went to Prof. Frans Debruyne (Nijmegen, the Netherlands), the EAU Crystal Matula Award 2010 – to Dr. J.W.F. Catto, (Sheffield, UK), the Frans Debruyne Lifetime Achievement Award – to Prof. Remigio Vela Navarrete (Madrid, Spain) and the Hans Marberger Award – to Dr. Martin Marszalek, (Vienna, Austria).

“It is an honour to receive this award, and it even more so as it carries the name of the great Austrian urologist and my compatriot,” said Dr. Martin Marszalek. “It is a confirmation of my efforts and a great encouragement to continue in this path.”

Other awards have been handed out in the following days of the congress, including prizes for the best paper in various fields, the European Urology Platinum Award, the EUSP Award video awards, best abstract awards, best abstracts by the resident awards, the EAUN award.

• Prize for the Best Paper published on Fundamental Research - Sarfaz Ahmad (Dublin, Ireland) et al. “Prostate stem cell antigen DNA vaccination breaks tolerance to self-antigen and inhibits prostate cancer growth. The American Society of Gene Therapy”;
• Prize for the Best Paper published on Clinical Research - M. J. Roobol (Rotterdam, the Netherlands) et al. “Prostate cancer mortality reduction by prostate-specific antigen-based screening adjusted for nonattendance and contamination in the European randomised study of screening for prostate cancer (ERSPC)”;
• Prize for the Best Scientific Paper published in European Urology in the year 2009 - Vincenzo Ficarra (Padua, Italy) et al. “Preoperative Aspects and Dimensions Used for an Anatomical (PADUA) Classification of Renal Tumours in Patients Who Are Candidates for Nephron-Sparing Surgery”;
• Prize for the Best Scientific Paper published on Clinical Research in European Urology in 2009 by a young urologist - Sigurdur Gudjonsson (Malmö, Sweden) et al. “Should All Patients with Non–Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer Receive Early Intravesical Chemotherapy after Transurethral Resection? The Results of a Prospective Randomised Multicentre Study”;
• The European Urology Platinum Award - C.R. Chapple (Sheffield, UK), O.W. Hakenberg (Rostock, Germany), Rodolfo Montironi (Torrette di Ancona, Italy);
• Prize for the Best Video published in EUVJ 2009 - Christof Lang (Neunkirchen, Germany) et al. “Ejaculation preserving (EP) technique in endourological treatment of BPH - epLaservaporesection and epTUR of the prostate”;
• First Video Prize - András Hoznek (Creteil, France) et al. “Supine percutaneous nephrolithotomy”;
• Second Video Prize - Kazutaka Saito (Tokyo, Japan) et al. “Gasless two port access total nephroureterectomy: MIES total nephroureterectomy”;
• Third Video Prize - Henrik Zecha (Dresden, Germany) et al. “Repair of rectovesical fistula using the York Mason approach”;
• First Prize for the Best Abstract (Non-Oncology) – Hitoshi Yokoyama (Matsumoto, Japan) et al. “Stroma reaction in mouse xenograft models of prostate cancer bone metastasis”;
• First Prize for the Best Abstract (Oncology) - Berna Özdemir (Bern, Switzerland) et al. “Effects of encephalin gene therapy using herpes simplex virus vector on bladder hyperactivity and nociception”;
• Second Prize for the Best Abstract (Non-Oncology) – C. J. Gratzke (Munich, Germany) et al. “Activated RhoA/Rho-Kinase leads to impaired erectile function in a cavernous nerve injury rat model”;
• Second Prize for the Best Abstract (Oncology) – M.J.J. van Hemelrijck (London, United Kingdom) et al. “Hypertriglyceridemia, hypercholesterolemia and risk of prostate cancer: A Swedish cohort study including 4,278 prostate cancers”;
• Third Prize for the Best Abstract (Non-Oncology) - Massimo V. Valerio, (Lausanne, Switzerland) et al. “New concept of artificial muscle for urinary incontinence treatment”;
• Third Prize for the Best Abstract (Oncology) - Soichiro Yoshida (Tokyo, Japan) et al. “47 Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging in diagnosis of upper urinary tract cancer”;
• EUSP Award - Stéphane Larré (Sheffield, UK);
• First Prize for the Best Abstract by a Resident - Christian Bolenz (Dallas, US) et al. “HER-2 expression status provides independent prognostic information in patients with urothelial carcinoma of the bladder: A rationale for targeted therapy”;
• Second Prize for the Best Abstract by a Resident - Nimalan Arumainayagam (London, UK) et al. “Tookad® soluble (Padeliporfin) second generation vascular targeted photodynamic therapy (VTP) for prostate cancer: Safety and feasibility”;
• Third Prize for the Best Abstract by a Resident - Massimo V. Valerio (Lausanne, Switzerland) et al. “New concept of artificial muscle for urinary incontinence treatment”;
• Awards for the Best Scientific Paper publishedin European Urology in the year 2009 by a Resident – F. de Bock (Wilrijk, Belgium) et al. “Influence of Nerve Transsections and Combined Bladder Filling on Intravesical Electrostimulation-Induced Bladder Contraction in the Rat” and G. Ploussard et al. “The Role of Biopsy Core Number in Selecting Prostate Cancer Patients for Active Surveillance”.

For more information please visit the official website of the congress