This was the second time the "Linköping Neuroscience Award" was handed out. Neuro research has been a strategic area for Linköping University and Region Östergötland for a couple of years.
Professor Lees was named as the world’s most highly cited Parkinson’s disease researcher in 2011, with over 23,000 citations since 1985. He is best known for creating the most widely used criteria for the diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease, and his work led to the use of apomorphine to treat advanced complications of Parkinson’s disease.
He has received numerous prestigious awards including the American Academy of Neurology Movement Disorders Research Award, the German Society of Neurology Dingebauer Prize, the Jay Van Andel Award for Outstanding Research in Parkinson’s Disease, and the Association of British Neurologists Medal.
The Reta Lila Weston Institute of Neurological Studies, where Professor Lees served as director from 1998-2012 and currently acts as emeritus director, is focused on neurodegenerative disease research with special emphasis on parkinsonian disorders, hereditary spastic paraplegia, and stroke. It is a research institute within the UCL Institute of Neurology and carries out collaborative, interdisciplinary research combining clinical, genetic, and cell biology approaches.
– We are very pleased that Andrew Lees wanted to come here. He is one of the most renowned Parkinson researchers in the world. It's a great opportunity to take part of his knowledge, says Anders Blomqvist, director of the Center for systems neurobiology at Linköping University.