Oslo Sports Trauma Research Center

Main content of the page

Information about a piece of news titled Lars Engebretsen and Roald Bahr awarded for the Nordic Prize in Medicine

Lars Engebretsen and Roald Bahr awarded for the Nordic Prize in Medicine

Intoduction

Professor Lars Engebretsen and professor Roald Bahr have been awarded the Nordic Prize in Medicine for their extraordinary research capacity in sports and exercise medicine. The prize of one million Swedish Crowns will be awarded in Stockholm in January.

This is the first time that researchers in the field of sports medicine have received this prestigious award. The two Norwegian researchers share the prize with professor Jon Karlsson from Gothenborg and professor Michael Kjær from Copenhagen.

Engebretsen and Bahr have been pioneers in sports injury prevention research. In particular, their work investigating injury mechanisms and risk factors has laid the foundations for effective prevention measures across a number of sports and common injury types, such as anterior cruciate ligament ruptures and head injuries.

Proud winners: professor Roald Bahr (to the left) and professor Lars Engebretsen (picture: Karen Christensen)

Together, Bahr and Engebretsen are the founders and co-chairs of the Oslo Sports Trauma Research Center, which since its establishment in 2000 has become one of the world’s leading research groups in the field of sports injury and illness prevention. A total of 29 PhD-students have defended their theses with 4-5 publications each. 

Groundbreaking and of major importance for the development of the OSTRC, one of the first prevention studies in history to effectively reduce injury risk in sports has been conducted in the Oslo-group.

Both award winners have a large number of publications within the field of sports and exercise medicine, and are regularly welcomed as keynote speakers at major international conferences. They both perform important roles for the International Olympic Committee and International Sports Federations to protect the athletes´ health, and both have remained clinically active throughout their careers.

- “Today´s announcement is, of course, a big day for both of us – as well as for the Oslo Sports Trauma Research Center as a whole!” say Lars and Roald. “This award is an acknowledgement to everybody, past and present, who has contributed to our Center’s success.”


What is the Nordic Prize in Medicine?
 

The Nordic Prize in Medicine is awarded by Ulf Nilsonnes Foundation - in cooperation with insurance company Folksam. The Foundation has its origins in Salus fund for medical research, which was established in 1979 by Salus 50th anniversary. In connection with the listing of Salus Holding AB 1996, taken the initiative to establish a foundation for medical research, and the Nordic Medicine Price is awarded since 1998. The prize is one million SEK.