The IBRO Dargut and Milena Kemali International Prize for Research in the field of Basic and Clinical Neurosciences' is a prize awarded every two years to an outstanding researcher, under 45 years old, who made important contributions in the field of Basic and Clinical

Neuroscience Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system (the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system), its functions, and its disorders. It is a multidisciplinary science that combines physiology, anatomy, molecular biology, ...

s. The award was established in 1998. The prize award equals 25,000 Euros, and the prize winner is invited to give a lecture at the

Federation of European Neuroscience Societies The Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS) is a European federation of scientific societies for basic scientists and physicians whose research is focused on the brain and nervous system (i.e., neuroscience). History The federatio ...

(FENS) Forum of Neuroscience held every two year. According to the FENS regulations, speakers from the previous FENS Forum cannot be speakers at the next FENS Forum. Nominations should be submitted in electronic format and are evaluated by the Prize Committee of the IBRO Dargut & Milena Kemali Foundation.

Prize winners

* 2022 – Sergiu P. Pasca (Romania, USA) – for his innovative research work using stem cell technology to create human brain organoids and assembloids, and their application to realistic studies of cellular mechanisms of human brain development and disease mechanisms. * 2020 - Hailan Hu (Zheijiang, China) – for impressive work on the fundamental neurobiological mechanisms of emotional and affective behaviors. * 2018 - Guillermina López-Bendito (Alicante, Spain) - for outstanding work on mechanisms of

axon guidance Axon guidance (also called axon pathfinding) is a subfield of neural development concerning the process by which neurons send out axons to reach their correct targets. Axons often follow very precise paths in the nervous system, and how they mana ...

in brain development, and in particular in thalamocortical connectivity. * 2016 - Casper Hoogenraad (Utrecht, The Netherlands) - for outstanding work on

cytoskeleton The cytoskeleton is a complex, dynamic network of interlinking protein filaments present in the cytoplasm of all cells, including those of bacteria and archaea. In eukaryotes, it extends from the cell nucleus to the cell membrane and is compos ...

dynamics and intracellular transport in neural development and

synaptic plasticity In neuroscience, synaptic plasticity is the ability of synapses to Chemical synapse#Synaptic strength, strengthen or weaken over time, in response to increases or decreases in their activity. Since memory, memories are postulated to be represent ...

. * 2014 - Patrik Verstreken (Leuven, Belgium) - for success in undoing the effect of one of the genetic defects that leads to

Parkinson's Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become more prevalen ...

using

vitamin K2 Vitamin K2 or menaquinone (MK) () is one of three types of vitamin K, the other two being vitamin K1 ( phylloquinone) and K3 (menadione). K2 is both a tissue and bacterial product (derived from vitamin K1 in both cases) and is usually found in a ...

. * 2012 - Eleanor Maguire (London, UK) - for innovative contributions to understanding human memory. * 2010 - (Stockholm, Sweden) - for pioneering contributions to understanding of

neurogenesis Neurogenesis is the process by which nervous system cells, the neurons, are produced by neural stem cells (NSCs). This occurs in all species of animals except the porifera (sponges) and placozoans. Types of NSCs include neuroepithelial cells ( ...

in the central nervous system. * 2008 - (San Diego, CA, USA) - for seminal discoveries on how

cerebral cortex The cerebral cortex, also known as the cerebral mantle, is the outer layer of neural tissue of the cerebrum of the brain in humans and other mammals. It is the largest site of Neuron, neural integration in the central nervous system, and plays ...

perceives the environment by showing that cortical circuits operate in an activity-dependent and non-linear fashion using canonical feed-forward and feed-back inhibition circuits as feature detectors of incoming stimuli. * 2006 - (Stockholm, Sweden) - for outstanding work on the expression and function of

neurotrophic factors Neurotrophic factors (NTFs) are a family of biomolecules – nearly all of which are peptides or small proteins – that support the growth, survival, and cell differentiation, differentiation of both developing and mature neurons. Most ...

and

neuropeptide Neuropeptides are chemical messengers made up of small chains of amino acids that are synthesized and released by neurons. Neuropeptides typically bind to G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) to modulate neural activity and other tissues like the ...

and their receptors exploiting transgenic techniques. * 2004 -

Cornelia I. Bargmann Cornelia Isabella "Cori" Bargmann (born January 1, 1961) is an American neurobiologist. She is known for her work on the genetic and neural circuit mechanisms of behavior using ''C. elegans'', particularly the mechanisms of olfaction in the worm. ...

(San Francisco, CA, USA) for fundamental discoveries concerning genes, behavior, and the sense of smell in the nematode C. elegans. * 2002 - Daniele Piomelli (Irvine, CA, USA) for fundamental discoveries concerning the functional roles and regulation of endogenous

cannabinoid Cannabinoids () are several structural classes of compounds found primarily in the ''Cannabis'' plant or as synthetic compounds. The most notable cannabinoid is the phytocannabinoid tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) (delta-9-THC), the primary psychoact ...

s in the brain and peripheral tissues. * 2000 - Robert C. Malenka (Boston, MA, USA) - for fundamental contributions in the field of synaptic plasticity, in particular long term potentiation and long term depression, and the characterization of the role of silent synapses in these processes. * 1998 - Tamas Freund (Budapest, Hungary) - for outstanding contributions to the organization and chemical characterization of identified neuronal circuits and cell types in the brain, in particular in the

hippocampus The hippocampus (: hippocampi; via Latin from Ancient Greek, Greek , 'seahorse'), also hippocampus proper, is a major component of the brain of humans and many other vertebrates. In the human brain the hippocampus, the dentate gyrus, and the ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:IBRO-Kemali Prize Neuroscience awards European science and technology awards International science and technology awards