PRIZES & DISTINCTIONS

 Howard Hughes Medical Institute : 250.000 dollars for a researcher of the Institute of Microbiology

Dominique Sanglard, Head of research projects in the Institute of Microbiology, was awarded the Howard Hughes Medical Institute prize. This donation of US$ 250.000 was given to him for his work on the mechanisms of resistance to antifungal drugs by the yeast <<Candida>>, which is responsible for skin and mucous infections.

Novartis Prize to Professor Hans-Rudolf Brunner

Professor Hans-Rudolf Brunner, Head of the Department of Hypertension and Vascular Medicine of the University Hospitals of Lausanne received the Novartis Prize in October 2000 along with two other American physicians. This distinction rewards his works on the inhibitors of angiotensin in the treatment of hypertension and heart failure. Angiotensin is a hormone whose role is to constrict the blood vessels.

Pfizer Prize for research for two researchers of the University Hospitals of Lausanne

Two out of the ten researchers who have received the Pfizer Prize 2000 are researchers from the UHL.

Thierry Pedrazzini, biologist in the Division of Hypertension, has been rewarded for his work on the NPY-neuropeptide. He succeeded in proving that this neuropeptide is involved in controlling heart rate and heart pressure, on the one hand, and stimulation of appetite on the other.

Claude Sartori, a member of the research group of Dr. Urs Scherrer in the Department of Medicine, was rewarded for his work on altitude pulmonary oedema, a disease that strikes mountaineers otherwise in good health.

Max Cloëtta Prize to Professor G. Pantaleo

The Max Cloëtta Prize was awarded to Professor G. Pantaleo, Head of the Departement of Imunology and Allergology of the UHL for his work on AIDS. Professor G. Pantaleo and two of his colleagues from Lausanne, Dr Sylvain Fleury and Dr. Gian Paolo Rizzardi, were already amongst the winners of the Pfizer Prize for research in 1999. Their research has opened new therapeutic perspectives that aim at preventing the AIDS virus from reproducing and at restoring the immune system attacked by the virus.

It is the second time in a few years that the Max Cloëtta Prize has been awarded to a member of the UHL. In 1997, it had rewarded the research on diabetes of Dr. Gérard Waeber, doctor in the Department of Internal Medicine.

Leenaards Foundation : research encouragement prizes

The Leenaards Foundation has awarded three special prizes of 350,000 Swiss francs each for scientific research. Members of the University Hospitals of Lausanne are involved in two of the prime projects concerning cardiovascular diseases and biology of the brain.