The Willem Kolff Prize is the highest international award regarding artificial organs. It is awarded for groundbreaking research and/or revolutionary inventions leading to improvements in human health and well-being. On Sunday, September 8, at the congress of the European Society for Artificial Organs (ESAO), Robin Koops received this prize for the development of the artificial pancreas.
The Willem Kolff Award
The prize is named after the Dutch medical doctor Willem Kolff, inventor of the artificial kidney (1943) and the artificial heart (1956). He was a pioneer in the field of artificial organs and is internationally recognized as the ‘’Father of Artificial Organs’’. His inventions continue to save the lives of millions of people to this day. To honor Dr. Willem Kolff’s legacy, the Willem Kolff Foundation presents this award.
Robin received the Willem Kolff Award for his invention and development of the artificial pancreas for people with type 1 diabetes. Since 2004, he has been working on his invention, now with a team of about 65 people at the company Inreda Diabetic. “Mr. Koops received this award for his exceptional achievement,” said Dr. Fokko Wieringa, board member of the Willem Kolff Foundation. “The realization of this medical device is remarkable by itself, but even more so considering that he is a type 1 diabetes patient, inventor, and leader of the development team. This is truly exceptional. Robin Koops showed the same determination and practical approach as Dr. Kolff did.”
Crowning accomplishment
Recently, Robin also made headlines with the artificial pancreas. A large, long-term study demonstrating the treatment’s success was published in The Lancet Digital Health, showing promising results in glucose regulation and quality of life [1]. For Robin, receiving the Willem Kolff Award is a crowning accomplishment for him and his team. “It is a great honour to receive this award,” said Robin Koops. “It is a reward for all the work and dedication of the past years. Along with my colleagues, I continue to work every day to improve the quality of life for people with diabetes.”
The first Willem Kolff Award was presented in 1998, and since then, it has only been awarded 11 more times. You can read more about the foundation’s goals and the history of the award on the Willem Kolff Foundation’s website.
[1] Bihormonal fully closed-loop system for the treatment of type 1 diabetes: a real-world multicentre, prospective, single-arm trial in the Netherlands. AC van Bon, H Blauw, TJP Jansen, GD Laverman, T Urgert, J Geessink-Mennink, AH Mulder, M Out, R Groote Veldman, AJ Onvlee, BJJW Schouwenberg, MAR Vermeulen, MJM Diekman, MN Gerding, JPH van Wijk, M Klaassen, M Witkop, JH DeVries. Lancet Digit Health 2024; 6: e272–80. Published online March 4, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2589-7500(24)00002-5