5 September 2012

Keyhole surgery pioneer to receive Hoogendijk Award

Professor Sir Alfred Cuschieri, one of the world's pioneers of 'keyhole' surgery, is to receive the Steven Hoogendijk Award in the Netherlands next month.

The prize, consisting of a silver medal and 10,000Euros, is a biannual prize awarded by the Dutch philosophical society Bataafsch Genootschap. This is the fifth time the award has been made.

Sir Alfred Cuschieri is Professor of Surgery at the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna in Pisa and Chief Scientific Advisor to the Institute of Medical Science and Technology (IMSaT), a joint research centre hosted by the Universities of Dundee and St Andrews. Previously he was Professor and Head of Department of Surgery and Molecular Oncology at Ninewells Hospital and Medical School, University of Dundee, where he developed many of the techniques in laparoscopic, or 'keyhole' surgery that have become commonplace today.

Around 60% of all surgical procedures carried out in the UK today are done using the keyhole technique.

Sir Alfred's research interests include minimal access therapy, endoscopic surgery, technology and micro-robotics, ergonomics, nanotechnology and nanoscience and virtual/augmented reality systems for skills training.

"I am honoured to be receiving the Steven Hoogendijk Award and look forward to a very interesting trip to the Netherlands in October," said Sir Alfred.

The Bataafsch Genootschap der Proefondervindelijke Wijsbegeerte is a Dutch philosophical society, founded in 1769 by Steven Hoogendijk, a clockmaker in Rotterdam. Its field of interest is medicine and technology, in particular the combination of both.

They will present Sir Alfred with the award at a ceremony on Friday October 5th. A mini-symposium will be held the day before.

NOTES TO EDITORS

IMSAT - The Institute of Medical Science and Technology
IMSaT is an interdisciplinary institute for future Medical Technologies positioned at the interface of Physics, Engineering with Clinical and Life Sciences founded in 2006 as a joint initiative by the University of Dundee and the University of St Andrews, supported by Scottish Enterprise and the EU.

The Institute brings engineers, physicists, mathematicians and life scientists together with clinicians, health service providers, and corporates to research and exploit the developments that are occurring at the interface between the biomedical and physical sciences. www.imsat.org.

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