Research on heart and vascular disease earns Peter Carmeliet of VIB and K.U.Leuven the Ernst Jung Medical award 2010

VIB News 8/01/2010

His pioneering research on heart and vascular diseases and thrombosis has earned Peter Carmeliet of VIB and the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (K.U.Leuven) the prestigious Ernst Jung Medical Award, one of the highest European prizes for biomedical research.

The Ernst Jung Foundation, which awards the prize, was particularly impressed by Carmeliet’s success in making the link between fundamental scientific research and the practical treatment of diseases. The award includes a monetary prize of €150,000, to be used primarily for further scientific research.

The Ernst Jung Foundation is bestowing this prize on Peter Carmeliet for his ground-breaking scientific insights into the growth and the role of blood vessels. Carmeliet has demonstrated the importance of various growth factors in the formation of blood vessels (angiogenesis) in cancer and diseases of the eye; and the therapeutic potential of a new angiogenesis-inhibitor (anti-PlGF) for the treatment of cancer is currently being tested in clinical trials conducted by ThromboGenics in collaboration with Roche. His more recent studies are revealing a major role of one of these factors (VEGF) in ALS, the fatal paralyzing disorder of the nervous system; clinical trials to evaluate the therapeutic potential of VEGF for ALS patients are now underway.

The Ernst Jung Foundation was founded in 1967 by German businessman Ernst Jung, who desired to dedicate his wealth to the service of science. Each year, the Foundation awards its prize to the most deserving medical scientists.