Christine Van Broeckhoven awarded the Khalid Iqbal Award
Having won many other awards, Professor Christine Van Broeckhoven of the VIB-UAntwerp has now also received the Khalid Iqbal Lifetime Achievement Award. This award is presented to those who significantly advance research into Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia and make a lifelong commitment to the cause.
Professor Van Broeckhoven has been involved in this field since 1983. During her pioneering research into neurodegenerative brain diseases, particularly Alzheimer's, she discovered the APP protein, which is at the origin of this disease. She has continued to push the boundaries by combining genetic, molecular and biological perspectives, as well as clinical neurology. She has also discovered genes that play a role in the disease process. This is a very important discovery, on the one hand for understanding the origin and progression of Alzheimer's disease, and on the other hand for developing new diagnostic tools and new therapies.
Khalid Iqbal was the co-founder of the Alzheimer Association's annual conference in 1988, and Christine Van Broeckhoven was - virtually - honoured at this year's event. She has already received numerous leading national and international awards and academic honours for her scientific merits, strong public communication and community involvement in the field of Alzheimer's disease. Lastly, it is also worth mentioning that many of the scientists she has trained are now making a name for themselves in this field.