Who will win the Hugo van Poelgeest audience award of 2024?
Who will win the Hugo van Poelgeest audience award of 2024?
Will you support young researchers working towards a world without animal testing? Every other year, we and Stichting Bouwstenen voor Dierenwelzijn present the Hugo van Poelgeest Award to a young researcher conducting innovative, animal-free research in the life sciences.
A professional jury will select the winner, but animal-free innovation isn’t just for scientists – it’s for everyone. That’s why we’ll also award an audience award of €1.500. It’s up to you who will win this award!
Every day, Patrick, Henrique, and Giulia prove that a world without animal testing is possible. Which of these young researchers do you think is most future-proof? Vote for your favourite now, and they might win the Hugo van Poelgeest Audience Award 2024!
Voting has ended. The winner will be announced on Friday, November 15, during our event Toekomstproef. Keep an eye on our website for more information.
The top 3 nominees
Earlier this year, research group leaders were able to nominate their young researchers for the Hugo van Poelgeest Award. A scientific jury selected the following top three from all nominees: Patrick Mulder, Henrique Pinto and Giulia Moreni.
Patrick Mulder
In the laboratory, Patrick and his team are developing animal-free skin models based on human cells. In doing so, he hopes not only to prevent animal suffering, but also to gain better insight into the human body’s response to burns and the effect of existing and new treatment methods.
Henrique Pinto
Henrique Nogueira Pinto wants to mimic a human blood-brain barrier in the lab and connect it to mini-brains. If he succeeds, better research can be done on ways to bring medicine past the blood-brain barrier and the effect on the brain can be tested more accurately.
Giulia Moreni
Using human stem cells, Giulia is developing models that allow animal-free research into the progression and treatment of viral infections. Her groundbreaking work lays the foundation for personalized medicine in patients suffering from chronic viral infections due to rare genetic disorders.
What is the Hugo van Poelgeest Award?
The Hugo van Poelgeest Award is the oldest Dutch prize for animal-free scientific research. Mrs. van Poelgeest-Spatkova wanted to honor her late husband Hugo van Poelgeest with this award. He dedicated his entire life to animal welfare.
Why is this an important prize?
In the past the prize was awarded every four years by Stichting Bouwstenen voor Dierenwelzijn. We have been part of the organization since 2019 and the prize is since then awarded every two years. We now focus on the new generation of scientists, to inspire them to continue working with animal-free models.
