PRIZE. The Swedish Society of Medicine has awarded this year’s Gullstrand Gold Medal to Ann Hellström, a professor of ophthalmology at the University of Gothenburg and chief physician at Sahlgrenska University Hospital. The medal is awarded only every 10 years. Hellström received it for her research in pediatric ophthalmology.
Children born extremely prematurely have very good chances of survival today. But because organs, nervous tissue, and blood vessels have not had time to fully develop, premature babies risk being afflicted by injuries and diseases. Ann Hellström’s research has led to the discovery that children born prematurely have a low level of the growth hormone IGF-1 and that the risk of damage to vision can be reduced by a supplementary combination of fatty acids.
“It is a great honor to receive recognition for my work and to be awarded the Gullstrand medal,” Hellström says. “My research is about improving the potential for premature babies to develop as optimally as possible, even though a large part of their early development needs to take place outside the womb. By determining what the children’s organs and tissues require to continue to grow and function normally even after birth, we are trying to improve the quality of life for our smallest survivors.”
Promotes ophthalmological research
The Swedish Society of Medicine awards the Gullstrand medal to pay tribute to the former honorary member of the society, Allvar Gullstrand, a professor of physiological and physical optics at the University of Uppsala. The purpose of the award is to promote research in the field of ophthalmology.
The medal has been awarded every 10 years since 1932. It has been awarded to a Swedish ophthalmologist only once before, in 1982.
The award ceremony will take place on November 8, 2022, during the Swedish Society of Medicine’s annual celebration.
Ann Hellström describes her research in more detail (in Swedish) in an episode of the Akademiliv podcast recorded in October 2019: https://soundcloud.com/sahlgrenskaakademin/ann-hellstrom-om-forskning-som-hjalper-extremt-fortidigt-fodda-barn
BY: SWEDISH SOCIETY OF MEDICINE / ELIN LINDSTRÖM
