Fokko van der Woude Memorial Fund

Background

Fokko van der Woude – one of the fathers of Anti-Neutrophil Cytoplasm Autoantibodies (ANCA) related research and a dedicated researcher in the field of diabetes, transplantation and vasculitis – passed away at the age of 53 on December 4, 2006. He was born in Leeuwarden, The Netherlandsand completed his medical studies and his clinical education in Groningen, The Netherlands. In 1985, he successfully defended his thesis: Complexes or no complexes. This thesis contained the classic paper from The Lancet describing the close association between the presence of ANCA and Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis (Wegener’s) that came to change the textbooks on renal vasculitis and autoimmune diseases.

With his ability to get funding from the European Community for a standardization of ANCA detection in 1990 and his continuing support for the later clinical applications of the emerging scientific field of ANCA serology – the European Union supported clinical trials subsequently leading to the formation of the present European Vasculitis Society (EUVAS) – he became a driving force behind the basic and clinical research in Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis (Wegener’s) and other ANCA-related systemic vasculitides. Apart from science, music was his great passion. Together with his wife Riet and their twin daughters Joanne and Diane he enjoyed playing music, especially string quartets. The last part of his life he was a respected professor at the Heidelberg University Hospital in Mannheim.

At the 13th International Vasculitis and ANCA Workshop in Cancun, April 26 -29, 2007, it was decided to establish a Memorial Fund with the aim to secure funding for at least one young researcher for her/his participation in the International Vasculitis and ANCA Workshops in the future based on the best abstract.


Procedure for selecting the best abstract

When submitting abstracts for the International Vasculitis and ANCA Workshops, the presenting author is requested to state date of birth. Abstracts accepted for presentation by a person 35 years or younger will be circulated to an international panel of active researchers of acknowledged reputation in the field of vasculitis prior to the Workshop. As the aim of the award is to secure participation for young researchers, it is mandatory that the presenting author is actually giving the presentation. The decision of the international voting panel will therefore be notified confidentially to the selected author shortly before the workshop to secure participation of the award winner.


International voting panel

Ronald Falk, USA

Luis Felipe Flores-Suárez, Mexico

Kirsten de Groot, Germany

Loïc Guillevin, France

David Jayne, United Kingdom

Cees Kallenberg, The Netherlands

Charles Pusey, United Kingdom

Caroline Savage, United Kingdom

Niels Rasmussen, Denmark

Jan Willem Cohen Tervaert, The Netherlands


Administration and donations

The Fund is administered by the EUVAS and the EUVAS is the legal body for the Fund. All revenue of the Fund is managed through a separate bank account. Donations are gratefully accepted and are managed by the treasurer of the EUVAS, Thomas Hauser. E-mail: hauser@immunologie-zentrum.ch

 

Biannual awards

2013 (16th International Vasculitis and ANCA Workshop, April 13-17, 2013, in Paris):

  • Meghan Free, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USA

 

ANCA Epitope Specificity Determines Pathogenicity, Detectability and Clinical Predictive Value.

A. Roth¹, J. Ooi², J. Hess¹, M. Van Timmeren³, E. Berg¹, C. Poulton¹, J. Mcgregor¹, M. Burkart¹, S. Hogan¹, Y. Hu¹, W. Winnik4, P. Nachman¹, C. Stegeman³, J. Niles 5, P. Heeringa³, M. Free¹, R. Kitching², S. Holdsworth², C. Jennette¹, G. Preston¹, R. Falk¹.

¹UNC Chapel Hill - Chapel Hill (USA), ²Monash University - Clayton (Australia), ³University of Groningen - Groningen (Netherlands), 4Environmental Protection Agency - Research Triangle Park (USA), 5Massachusetts General Hospital - Boston (USA).

 

  • Stephen Mcadoo, Imperial College, London, UK

 

Spleen Tyrosine Kinase (SYK) inhibition in Experimental Autoimmune Glomerulonephritis (EAG).

S.P. Mcadoo¹, J. Reynolds¹, J. Smith¹, G. Bhangal¹, E. Masuda², T.H. Cook¹, C.D. Pusey¹, F. Tam¹.

Imperial College London, London (UK), ²Rigel Pharmaceuticals, San Francisco (USA).