ERS Romain Pauwels Research Award 2019

With the support of GlaxoSmithKline, ERS offers an award of €50,000 to encourage a new generation of lung scientists and to support young researchers in their quest to understand and treat respiratory illnesses. This award is dedicated to the memory of Professor Romain Pauwels (1943–2005) for his efforts in fighting asthma and COPD.

The award will be conferred for excellence in achievements in clinical research on airway diseases such as asthma and related conditions, or other respiratory diseases. The award is to be used for further investigations in the field of airway diseases.

Professor Klaus Bønnelykke

Klaus Bønnelykke Romain Pauwels Research AwardDr. Klaus Bønnelykke is Professor in Paediatrics at the Copenhagen Prospective Studies on Asthma in Childhood (COPSAC) research centre, Herlev and Gentofte Hospital, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

Dr. Bønnelykke's research area is clinical translational research focusing on the origins of asthma, allergy and eczema. He performed the first genome-wide association study of severe asthma exacerbations in early childhood, demonstrating the value of specific phenotyping in the search for asthma mechanisms and identifying CDHR3 as a susceptibility gene (Nat Genet). This was later followed up by a study supporting that CDHR3 functions as a rhinovirus C receptor (AJRCCM). Furthermore, Dr. Bønnelykke has directed large-scale collaborative genetic studies of allergic sensitization and rhinitis increasing the understanding of the underlying disease mechanisms.

He is co-PI for the birth cohort study COPSAC2010, with embedded randomised trials on fish oil and vitamin D supplementation during pregnancy finding that fish oil supplementation might be a future tool for prevention of childhood asthma, while vitamin D supplementation might reduce the risk of early asthma-like symptoms.

In the future, Dr. Bønnelykke will continue his research on asthma mechanisms in the COPSAC cohorts and in children with severe asthma in order to allow precision prevention and treatment.

The ceremony for the Romain Pauwels Research Award will take place during the Scientific Year in Review, taking place on Sunday 29 September, 2019 from 08.30 to 10.30 in Room 8B