A Swedish Scientist is Among the Recipients of the Hamdan Medical Award

DUBAI, December 1, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --

The Karolinska Institutet Professor Olle Ringdén, who is also the medical director at the Center for Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplantation at the Huddinge University Hospital in Stockholm, is a co-winner of the Hamdan Award for Medical Research Excellence, in the topic of Cell Therapy, sharing the prestigious Award with the American Professor Carl June.

     (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20141201/719718 )

At a grand ceremony, H.H. Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, UAE Minister of Finance and the Patron of the Award will honor the Swedish Professor Ringdén alongside with 18 other winners of various categories of this Award at its 8th term (2013-2014).

Prof. Ringden devoted his life to treating patients with various life-threatening disorders. By endless hard work during four decades, he has substantial discoveries in a variety of research fields that led to decreased transplantation-related mortality and improved survival.

He established a stem cell research laboratory, where he, amongst other achievements, pioneered allogenic hematopoetic stem cell transplantation research in Sweden.

He conducted various comprehensive studies of the immune system, thus uncovering the compartmentalization of this system. Subsequent to his work, spleen cells are routinely used for immunological testing of deceased organ donors for transplantation.

Prof. Ringdén developed several immunosuppressive therapies to facilitate peripheral blood stem cell transfer from unrelated donors. He highlighted the potential value of mesenchymal stem cells in various transplantation regimens, and this is one of his numerous achievements in the field of stem cell transplantation.

He established bone marrow and allogenetic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (AHSCT) in Sweden, and designated a research laboratory for this purpose. This laboratory was the nucleus for what became the Centre for Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplantation (CAST) in 1999, which is unique for this specialty in Northern Europe.

Prof Olle Ringdén changed the way immunomodulatory therapy is applied; by using cells from the patient, or from appropriate donors, to re-focus immune responses, heal inflammation, restore and rebuild tissues. This concept is now well embraced and practiced worldwide; helping to save the lives of many patients.

It is worth mentioning that Hamdan Medical Award is a non-profit organization that was established in 1999, and it has become the most prominent medical award in the Gulf Cooperation Council region.

Amany Al-OKda, mobile: +971-509147101, amany@hmaward.org.ae