Catto receives EAU Crystal Matula Award

Prof. James Catto (Sheffield, GB) has formally received the European Association of Urology (EAU) Crystal Matula Award, a prestigious honour annually granted by the EAU to a young promising European urologist under the age of 40.

In ceremonies during the Leading Lights in Urology Meeting held last week in Lago Maggiore, Italy, EAU Executive Board members Professors Walter Artibani, Manfred Wirth and Chris Chapple, together with Rob Laborie, handed the trophy and award to Catto. They cited Catto for his consistent and innovative work in the fields of bladder cancer and epigenetic gene regulation.

Supported by an educational grant from LABORIE, the Crystal Matula also includes an honorarium of €10,000 to stimulate research work and encourage future potential leaders in academic European urology.

Catto is the current head of the Academic Urology Unit at the University of Sheffield, and is a member of various university committees and clinical bodies. He was also recently elected as member of the Executive Committee of the British Association of Urological Surgeons, Section of Academic Urology.

The Crystal Matula Award is traditionally handed during formal opening ceremonies of the annual EAU congress, but due to the travel restrictions and flight cancellations caused by the volcanic activity in Iceland last April 16, Catto failed to attend the recent 25th Anniversary EAU Congress held in Barcelona, Spain.

Catto is the 14th recipient of the award and the second to be recognised from the UK after Prof. Freddie Hamdy won in 1996 the first Crystal Matula in Paris.

James Catto (second from left) receives the Crystal Matula Award. (From left) Walter Artibani, Catto, Rob Laborie, Chris Chapple and Manfred Wirth