ECTS-Kyowa Kirin Maria Luisa Bianchi Award
Nominations period: nominations are now open till 10 December 2024
In memory of Professor Maria Luisa Bianchi, who sadly passed away in 2020, ECTS would like to remember and honour Maria Luisa during its annual congress by introducing an annual Maria Luisa Bianchi Clinical Research Award on Rare Bone Diseases. This award is supported by Kyowa Kirin International.
The recipient of this award will give a lecture at the annual meeting and receive a grant of 10,000€ to be paid into the recipient’s institution or university account to contribute to specific research expenses.
About Maria Luisa Bianchi
Maria Luisa was an internationally recognised expert in the field of paediatric and rare bone diseases, who was actively involved in research, education and patient care. Her clinical research activities focused on paediatric metabolic bone diseases, endocrinology and steroid treatment side effects. She developed studies on cystic fibrosis, Duchenne’s muscular dystrophy, glycogen storage disease type 1, celiac disease and more. She was an active and regular contributor to the ECTS congress for many years, member of the ECTS Board of Directors and member of the ECTS Rare Disease Action Group.
Eligibility
This award is open to medical doctors who have made significant progress and contribution to the field of clinical rare bone disease research.
ECTS Board members are not eligible to this award during term of office in the ECTS Board.
Nomination Procedure
Nominations are now open till 10 December 2024.
Nominees must be nominated and seconded by ECTS members, using the online form.
Review Procedure
All nominations are reviewed by an independent panel of reviewers. The final decision is based on the marks and comments from the reviewers and any conflicts of interest are identified and dealt with appropriately. The ECTS Grants and Awards Committee and ECTS Board will make the final decision based on scores and comments by the reviewers.
Presentation and Announcement of the Award
The award will be presented at the Welcome Remarks during the Annual Congress. A dedicated session will also be held during which the awardee will give a lecture. The award winner will also be announced through the ECTS communication channels.
Financial Support
This award programme is supported by Kyowa Kirin International in the form of an educational grant. The selection process will not be influenced in any way by its sponsor.
Winner of the 2024 Maria Luisa Bianchi Award
Congratulations to Sanjay Kumar Bhadada, Professor, Department of Endocrinology, PGIMER, Chandigarh, India recipient of the 2024 Maria Luisa Bianchi Award. The award was presented during ECTS 2024 Congress in Marseille
This year, the recipient of Maria Luisa Bianchi Clinical Research Award on Rare Bone Diseases is Prof. Sanjay Bhadada.
Maria Luisa Bianchi was a friend we still miss and well-recognized expert in the field of paediatric and rare bone diseases. Therefore, this award is specifically dedicated to scientists that significantly contributed to advancement in the field of rare bone diseases.
In this respect, Prof. S. Bhadada contributed to identify genetic mutations in Indian patients with Camurati-Englemann disease and sclerosteosis. He published potential novel therapies for tumor induced osteomalacia and fibrogenesis imperfecta ossium. His team used recombinant human growth hormone as potential novel therapy for treatment of Fibrogenesis imperfecta ossium and reported drug-induced osteopetrosis in patients with osteogenesis imperfecta.
Congratulations Prof Bhadada for this well-deserved award!
