Lunds Innovatörspris (Lund Innovator Award)
Professor Thoas Fioretos was awarded the Lund Innovator Award, a newly established prize from Lund University and Sparbanken Skåne that recognises research that has been successfully transformed into innovation with concrete impact on society and the environment.
Professor Fioretos receives the award for his pioneering work in blood cancer research and his ability to translate scientific discoveries into life-enhancing medical innovations.
"My motivation has always been the same: to improve diagnostics and treatment for patients who develop cancer," says Thoas Fioretos, professor and senior consultant physician in clinical genetics.
Extensive research career and entrepreneurship
Since the start of his academic career, professor Thoas Fioretos has published over 160 scientific articles on blood cancer, and he has also founded three companies to commercialise his research. The companies employ approximately 40 staff members and have raised over 2 billion SEK in capital.
"Strong research can contribute greatly to societal benefit when individuals dare to take this out into the world through entrepreneurship and innovation. Thoas is an excellent example of someone who succeeds with this time and again," says Niclas Nilsson, Director of Innovation at LU Innovation, the innovation office at Lund University.
Future Innovations Award
Since its launch in 2017, the Future Innovations Award has recognised ideas that can "change our world for the better".
This year, the top prize went to Yvonne Lundberg Giwercman, professor at the Faculty of Medicine. Professor Yvonne Lundberg Giwercman received the award for the development of a point-of-care test that can greatly improve the outcome of IVF treatments.
The test analyses and identifies tailored hormone therapies for individual patients, something that is not currently possible.
"Research shows that women who receive hormone therapy customised to their genes have a 38% higher chance of having children, compared to those who do not receive genetically tailored treatment," says Yvonne Lundberg Giwercman.
Methane detector awarded
The honorary prize was awarded to Mattias Borg, Johannes Svensson and Johan Lundgren, all senior lecturers at Electromagnetics and Nanoelectronics at Lund University of Technology.
They received the award for the development of an infrared sensor technology that works at room temperature. This is a significant departure from current systems, which require expensive cryogenic cooling – that is, cooling something down to an extremely low temperature, typically below -150°C.
The technology enables efficient and low-cost monitoring of methane emissions on a large scale. For example, it can be used to monitor Sweden's hundreds of kilometers of pipelines.
Adam Tonderski, Georg Hess and Christoffer Petersson received the prize in the 'best new idea' category for AI-based simulation for robotics and self-driving cars.
Three student projects also received prizes during the ceremony.