NRS Swierenga Medal
The NRS Swierenga Medal is awarded by the Professor dr. Jaap Swierenga Foundation under the auspices of the NRS. The medal is awarded to a highly esteemed individual who is active in the area of respiratory diseases in the broadest sense. This may pertain to a great merit in diagnosis and/or treatment and/or science and research, and/or special societal merit in respiratory diseases.
Application and Nomination Guidelines 2024
A new round of call for application and nominations will open in Spring 2025.
We extend our heartfelt congratulations to Professor Wim Timens and Professor Marjolein Drent for their remarkable achievement in being awarded the esteemed Swierenga Medal. Their tireless dedication and significant contributions to the field of respiratory diseases exemplify excellence in diagnosis, treatment, research, and societal impact. It is a rare distinction for two distinguished individuals, each bringing unique perspectives from different medical specialties, to be recognized concurrently by the Swierenga committee. Their exceptional work in advancing respiratory health care and research sets a high standard in the medical community. We commend both professors on this well-deserved honor.
The prestigious NRS Swierenga Medal Award 2023 went to Professor Pieter Hiemstra, Professor of Respiratory Cell Biology and Immunology at Leiden University Medical Center.
This year, Professor Harry Groen from the University Medical Center Groningen won the Swierenga Penning. The decisive reasons for him winning the medal were: 1. Professor Groen has played an important role in the initiation of "NVALT studies". This concept of nationwide studies from a unified field of healthcare professionals, unique for lung diseases, has yielded more than 25 practice-oriented oncology studies of high scientific quality over many years. The studies have led to an important improvement of quality in healthcare, both nationally as well as internationally. Professor Groen's studies have also been proven to be a useful model for studies in other lung disciplines such as interstitial lung diseases. 2. Professor Groen has an impressive and stable scientific output over several decades. He is (co-) author of more than 350 peer-reviewed publications, has an H-index of 58 and is surprisingly often the last author. 3. With his enthusiasm and expertise, professor Groen has also managed to bring a lot of difficult files (including reimbursements from 'de basiszorg' for new treatments for lung cancer) to a good end. In addition, he has played a very important role for many years as a national advisor to KWF, insurers and policy makers. In this he has made a very distinctive social contribution to the development of lung oncology care nationwide.
