Established in 2019, the Collen-Jeantet Prize for Translational Medicine is awarded each year to experienced researchers who have distinguished themselves in biomedical research with a strong clinical application in one of the member states of the Council of Europe. Like the Louis-Jeantet Prize for Medicine, the Collen-Jeantet Prize for Translational Medicine is not intended as the consecration of work that has been completed, but rather to encourage the continuation of research projects of major importance to clinical medicine.
Donations from the Désiré Collen Stichting support the named award. Désiré Collen was born in Sint-Truiden, Belgium, in 1943. He obtained a M.D. degree (1968) and a Ph.D. degree in Chemistry (1974) at the University of Leuven, Belgium, before moving to the US and Sweden for his research. Returning to Leuven in 1973 he focused on thrombolysis, the dissolution of blood clots in heart attacks and strokes. Collen discovered α2-antiplasmin, the physiological inhibitor of plasmin in the blood and developed with Genentech Inc, CA, USA tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA), still the most effective drug for the treatment of ischemic stroke. He was among the first recipients of the Louis-Jeantet Prize for Medicine in 1986.
Désiré Collen