Nordic prize for excellent research awarded to NTNU professor
The Anders Jahre’s Award for Medical Research for young researchers is awarded this year to Professor Barbara van Loon at NTNU. Several previous winners of the main prize have since received the Nobel Prize in Medicine. This includes May-Britt and Edvard Moser at NTNU.
Barbara van Loon was given the award for younger researchers for her studies of cellular response to DNA damage, and its significance for cancer and developmental disorders of the nervous system.
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Provides a basis for better treatments
The Anders Jahre’s Award for medical research is among the largest in biomedical research in the Nordic countries. The main prize has been awarded annually since 1960. Starting in 1965, a prize has also been awarded to younger researchers.
The main prize is currently one million kroner, and the prize for younger researchers is 400,000 kroner.
The award committee wrote that Barbara van Loon has conducted important studies that provide detailed insight into cells’ response to DNA damage, and how repair mechanisms take effect.
The insight helps to understand what goes wrong when diseases develop, and it provides a basis for developing better treatments.
Was very surprised
Van Loon is a graduate of MIT, among others. She came to NTNU through the university’s Outstanding Academic Fellows Programme.
This programme has been designed to support NTNU’s foremost research talents in developing internationally leading research careers.
“It is a great surprise and a great honour to receive the Anders Jahre’s award for young researchers. I am very grateful to the committee, which acknowledges my work on the response of cells to DNA damage. The award is a great inspiration in the further work, van Loon said in a press release.
The prize is awarded by the University of Oslo. You can read more about this year’s winners here.
