Winner of the ESOT - Fujisawa Study and Research Grant announced

VENICE (Italy) September 24 (PROTEXT/PRNewswire) - Fujisawa announced today, at the 11th Congress of the European Society for Organ Transplantation (ESOT) in Venice, the winner of its 2002 Study and Research Grant that has been created in partnership with ESOT. The grant, which recognises innovation excellence by young researchers in the fields of clinical and experimental transplantation, was awarded to Dr Harm Hoekstra from Groningen University Hospital, The Netherlands. In partnership with ESOT, every year Fujisawa awards the prestigious Study and Research Grant to fund a new project by a young scientist. This is just one of a number of initiatives that Fujisawa supports as part of its commitment to helping provide young European researchers in transplantation with the necessary skills and knowledge to contribute to the understanding of, and clinical practice in this most challenging of fields. The winner, Dr Hoekstra, was awarded a grant of EUR35,000 and will be researching the effects of bile phospholipid depletion and ischaemia/reperfusion on biliary epithelial cells in a mouse liver transplant model at the University Hospital Zurich in Switzerland. Fujisawa, a leader in the field of solid organ transplantation medicine and manufacturer of Prograf(r) (tacrolimus), a cornerstone of immunosuppressive therapy, is a research-driven pharmaceutical company, and is firmly committed to innovative research and development. Fujisawa is currently developing a number of innovative compounds for potential use in transplantation. Fujisawa GmbH is a subsidiary of Fujisawa Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., based in Osaka, Japan. Fujisawa Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. is among the world's top 30 pharmaceutical companies and employs over 8000 people in Japan, Europe, North America and Asia. Since its launch of Prograf(r) in Japan in 1993, the first in the world, Fujisawa has become one of the world's leading transplant and immunosuppression companies. Fujisawa plans to maintain its commitment to transplantation, and is dedicated both to improving the results of solid-organ transplantation and to ensuring the health and quality of life of patients. Prograf(r) is currently available in nearly 70 countries and forms the centerpiece of Fujisawa's continuing growth. Additional information on Fujisawa GmbH can be found on the Company's Web site at www.fujisawaeurope.com. The European Society for Organ Transplantation (ESOT), founded in 1982 in Zurich (Switzerland), facilitates education and research relevant to organ transplantation. ESOT has created a scientific forum for the discussion of clinical experience, the introduction of confirmed experimental results and new methods into clinical practice, as well as discussions of legal and ethical problems and matters related to this field. For more information about the ESOT-Fujisawa Study and Research Grant, who is eligible and how to apply, please refer to www.esot.org or www.fujisawaeurope.com. For further information and a photograph of the winner of the ESOT-Fujisawa Study and Research Grant please contact: Marité Ode, Fujisawa GmbH, Munich, Germany, T: +49 89 45442249, F: +49 89 434129, media@fujisawa.de Subscribers please note that material bearing the slug "PROTEXT" is not part of CTK's news service and is not to be published under the "CTK" slug. Protext is a commercial service providing distribution of press releases from clients, who are identified in the text of Protext reports and who bear full responsibility for their contents. PROTEXT