July 08, 2011

Dr. Oberholzer awarded Ján Jessenius Honorary Plaque by Slovak Academy of Sciences

This Article was translated from a Slovak Academy of Sciences webpage. Article appeared on May 18, 2011. Link to original article appears at end of News Story.

On May 12th, 2011, at a meeting with representatives of the leaders of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAS) and the Washington Square Health Foundation (WSHF), Prof. José Oberholzer was awarded by the Ján Jessenius Honorary Plaque.

The meeting at the Presidium of SAS in Bratislava was attended by Vice-Presidents Dr. Albert Breier and Prof. Daniela Ježová, and a representative of the Presidium of SAS, Dr. Ladislav Petruš, and a project leader of the Chicago Diabetes Project (CDP) for Slovakia, Director of the Polymer Institute of SAS Dr. Igor Lacík.

Representatives from the Washington Square Health Foundation (WSHF), President William N. Werner, Executive Director Howard Nochumson, Program Director Catherine Baginski, and representatives from the CDP, project leader Prof. José Oberholzer, Deputy Principal Investigators from Switzerland Prof. David Hunkeler, Prof. Bernie Tuche from Australia, and Prof. Gudmund Skjak-Braek from Norway, informed the representatives of SAS about the CDP project, of which the Polymer Institute of SAS is actively engaged. The goal of the project is to provide continuous control of blood sugar levels for diabetic patients by transplantation of functional insulin-producing pancreatic islets (or islet replacement cells) protected by a polymer microcapsule which will effectively act as their own pancreas.

Laudation on José Oberholzer was presented by Prof. Daniela Ježová. In her speech she also mentioned Professor Oberholzer’s origins in Zurich, Switzerland. He obtained his medical degree from the University of Geneva in Switzerland, as well as the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada. Both institutional centers are at the forefront of diabetes research in the world. The fight against diabetes has become one of the main directions of Professor Oberholzer’s career. Furthermore, Prof. Ježová said that Prof. José Oberholzer is known for his deep devotion in all his activities. Those who have had the honor to work with him, and also run marathons with him, play guitar or taste wine with thim, find in Prof. Oberholzer a strong personality with the ability to motivate and move things forward. This allows for a feeling of hopefulness in the collaboration between the Slovak Academy of Sciences with Prof. Oberholzer and within the Chicago Diabetes Project will realize the goal of the CDP - a functional cure fo diabetes.

The prestigious award was presented to Prof. José Oberholzer by Vice-President of SAS Dr. Albert Breier.

The meeting at the Presidium of SAS was part of the project meeting of the Chicago Diabetes Project (http://www.thechicagodiabetesproject.org), which was held in Bratislava, on May 11th-15th, 2011. During these five days, led by Prof. José Oberholzer, University of Illinois (UIC), Chicago, USA and a local organizer Dr. Igor Lacík, Director of the Polymer Institute met in Bratislava, distinguished experts working in the treatment of diabetes from the USA, Europe and Australia presented on the current state of research efforts and discussed future plans.

As shown by the negotiations, the project aims to overcome two major obstacles in pancreatic islet transplantation. The first is to find an “unlimited” source of islet cell replacement cell for transplantation and the second is to protect transplanted islets from destruction by the immune system by their encapsulation in a polymer membrane. The Polymer Institute of SAS was invited to the >Chicago Diabetes Project in 2006 for their expertise concerning the development of polymeric microcapsules and the microencapsulation process.

Currently, as pointed out by Dr. Igor Lacík, within the CDP, SAS Polymer Institute researchers are working to identify material that is not only suitable for the encapsulation of pancreatic islets, but also will be safe for transplantation into humans in terms of minimum stimulation of the immune system in the long-term. The project meeting in Bratislava is significant as it brings honor, esteem, and appreciation to the work of the SAS Polymer Institute encapsulation group. With respect to the long-term cooperation of the Polymer Institute of SAS in this important project and also for the contribution of Prof. José Oberholzer to medical science, the Presidium of SAS, under the recommendation from the President of the SAS Section II (Life, Chemical, Medical, and Environmental Sciences), awarded Prof. Oberholzer the Ján Jessenius Honorary Plaque for merit in medical sciences.

The Chicago Diabetes Project was established in 2005 under the leadership of Prof. José Oberholzer from the University of Illinois at Chicago and supported by a startup grant from the Washington Square Health Foundation. This global project involving institutions from three continents, is aimed to provide functional treatment of diabetes.