One of the most important awards in the area of Health in Europe

One of the most important awards in the area of Health in Europe

One third of the population will die from stroke or will suffer from dementia, without intervention through diagnosis, treatment and prevention. This was the starting point for research now rewarded with the BIAL Merit Award In Medical Sciences, to the sum of 200,000 Euros, one of the most important awards in the area of Health in Europe.

"The long fuse: silent strokes and insidious Alzheimer's disease" is the title of the prize-winning work, which focusses on the relationship between strokes and Alzheimer's disease. The author, Vladimir Hachinski, argues that although apparently different, the diseases have much in common and he states these conditions are not additive, but potentiate each other.

Professor of Neurology at the University of Western Ontario, Canada, Editor of the medical journal “Stroke”, published by the American Heart Association, and Vice-President of The World Federation of Neurology, Vladimir Hachinski is a distinguished researcher. Doctor Honoris Causa by several International Universities, he was honoured in 2008 with the Order of Canada for his research in the areas of dementia and stroke.

The research work now awarded opens the way to important therapeutic perspectives that can add years of healthy brain to years of life for most patients. The author advocates a preventive plan, which relies on more rigorous diagnostic criteria, and points to solutions that enable a more precise distinction between the cognitive deficits of memory (most linked to Alzheimer's disease) and those related with executive function (most linked to silent strokes).

In the scientific research that he has been developing, Vladimir Hachinski also argues that the indications of slight executive function losses should be seen as signs of utmost importance, as they are suggestive of early pathology susceptible to intervention, which positively changes the course of the disease.

Every year, 1.4 million Europeans develop dementia, meaning that every 24 seconds a new case is diagnosed. This data, revealed by the European Collaboration on Dementia Project (Eurocode) and conducted by Alzheimer Europe, also pointed out that the number of citizens with dementia is around 7.3 million. In Portugal, it is estimated that there are about 153,000 individuals with dementia, 90,000 of which with Alzheimer's disease. Considering the aging population in most European countries, experts predict these figures to double in Western Europe by 2040, and even triple in Eastern Europe.

New uses for "old" drugs

Another distinguished work challenges the scientific community to create a clinical drug library built on past successes and leading to the rediscovery of medicines.

The honourable mention "New Uses for Old Drugs" was attributed to a research project that sought to discover clinically useful angiogenesis and malaria inhibitors, from existing drugs. The authors created and screened a library of 2,687 existing drugs, and identified three clinically promising new uses for existing drugs, particularly against malaria, the disease that kills more people each year worldwide.

The work now distinguished was coordinated by Curtis R. Chong, Medical Doctor at Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA, in collaboration with Professor Jun Liu, Professor of Pharmacology at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA and with David J. Sullivan Jr., Associate Professor of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology at the Malaria Research Institute, The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, USA.

"The human genome in action" is the title of another work distinguished with an honourable mention. This study depicts the main results obtained over the last decade of the research group led by Prof. Carmo Fonseca, Executive Director of the Institute of Molecular Medicine (Instituto de Medicina Molecular, Lisbon), who recently was awarded the Pessoa Award (Prémio Pessoa). The central theme of this work is based on the understanding and research around the nuclear compartmentalization for genome function and its implications for the therapeutic approach.

"Deep Brain Stimulation: from Parkinson's disease treatment to a new view of brain function" is the title of another work awarded with an honourable mention. Research conducted from the treatment of Parkinson's disease with this technique allowed the gathering of fundamental knowledge for understanding mechanisms underlying brain function. The investigation was coordinated by Professor Rui Vaz, Director of the Department of Neurosurgery, Hospital S. João, Porto.

The theme of obesity was also distinguished in this 14th edition of the BIAL Award, with the work "Obesity in Clinical Practice" coordinated by Prof. Isabel do Carmo. Compared with previous studies conducted between 1995-1998, this research concludes that there has been a 4% increase in the total of the overweight population. In Portugal, adults have a prevalence of pre-obesity of 39.4%, of obesity 14.2%, and 45.6% of the population have a waist circumference predictive of cardiovascular risk. The authors advocate a multidisciplinary treatment - medical, nutritional, physical and, if necessary, surgical - to fight against increasing obesity values.

At the present edition of the BIAL Award five unpublished prize-winning works are at the forefront of worldwide scientific research in the health field - the “BIAL Merit Award In Medical Sciences”, amounting to 200,000 Euros and four honorable mentions in the amount of 5,000 Euros each.

BIAL AWARD has already analyzed 518 application works and mobilized 1,156 researchers, doctors and scientists

Since its inception in 1984, the BIAL AWARD has already examined 518 application works and mobilized 1,156 researchers, doctors and scientists. 227 authors of 87 prize-winning works have been distinguished over fourteen editions, and more than 30 prize-winning works were freely distributed to the medical class, in a total of about 300,000 copies.

Considered as one of the scientific research awards of great prestige worldwide in the health field, the 14th edition of BIAL AWARD has received a record number of 63 applications, from Portugal, Brazil, Canada, Spain, USA, Italy, Peru and United Kingdom.

The Screening Committee of the BIAL Award 2010 was chaired by Professor Nuno Sousa and was composed by representatives from the Scientific Councils of the Portuguese Schools of Medicine, Professors Agostinho Almeida Santos (Faculty of Medicine, Coimbra), António Sousa Guerreiro (Faculty of Medical Sciences, University Nova de Lisboa), Carlos Lopes (Abel Salazar Institute of Biomedical Sciences), Henrique de Barros (Faculty of Medicine, Porto), Joana Palha (School of Health Sciences, University of Minho), José Manuel Calheiros (Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Beira Interior) and Leonor Parreira (Faculty of Medicine, Lisbon).

The monetary value of the BIAL Award reaches a total of 320,000 Euros, which places it among the biggest awards in the health field in Europe.