Nominations open for Dr. Paul Janssen Award

Have you ever heard from the Dr. Paul Janssen award? It's an acknowledgement for biomedical research almost as important as a Nobel Prize. A trophy sculpture, along with $200,000 cash, will go to the most passionate and creative scientist or team, whose work has made the strongest impact on human health.

Over the years, the perception of inflammatory diseases has changed drastically. The advent of cytokine inhibitors meant great improvement to many patients, especially those suffering from rheumatoid arthritis. However, these treatments remain symptomatic. Together with Janssen Pharmaceutica, world-renowned rheumatologist Lars Klareskog is ready to take the research and treatment of inflammatory joint disease to the next level.

Up to 1 billion people in the world suffer from neurological disorders. Currently, many brain scans are still evaluated by visual inspection. Quantification of different biomarkers in these brain scans can improve diagnosis, patient monitoring and, eventually, patient outcome. The Leuven-based company Icometrix provides software to bring quantification of brain scans into clinical trials and clinical practice. We should stop eye-balling images of brain scans and step into the world of quantitative analysis.

To address the challenges of drug development, solid strategic partnerships are needed. On the Janssen partner day, the company showcased an ongoing partnership with the University of Antwerp in mental health and how this partnership leads to better outcomes.