[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Cyrus Cooper, Professor of Rheumatology and Director of the MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit; Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Southampton; and Professor of Epidemiology at the Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Sciences, University of Oxford, has been named the winner of the annual Olof Johnell Science Award.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]The prestigious Award, granted by the International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) in honour of the late researcher Professor Olof Johnell, recognizes an individual who has made extraordinary and internationally recognized contributions to the field of osteoporosis in a scientific or policy implementation area.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”4682″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_shadow_3d”][vc_column_text]Professor Serge Ferrari, who presented the Award today at the opening ceremony of the WCO-IOF-ESCEO 2018 in Kraków, Poland, commented: “I can think of a no more deserving recipient of this Award than Cyrus Cooper. As one the most distinguished investigators in the field, he has made numerous outstanding contributions to musculoskeletal research that have increased our knowledge about the early prevention of osteoporosis and related fractures. Through his dedicated leadership of the IOF Committee of Scientific Advisors over many years, and in his current capacity as IOF President, he has shown immense personal commitment to advancing the field on all fronts – from science and policy, to global patient advocacy.”[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Cyrus Cooper leads an internationally competitive programme of research into the epidemiology of musculoskeletal disorders, most notably osteoporosis. His key research contributions have been:

1) discovery of the developmental influences which contribute to the risk of osteoporosis and hip fracture in late adulthood;

2) demonstration that maternal vitamin D insufficiency is associated with sub-optimal bone mineral accrual in childhood;

3) characterisation of the definition and incidence rates of vertebral fractures;

4) leadership of large pragmatic randomised controlled trials of calcium and vitamin D supplementation in the elderly as immediate preventative strategies against hip fracture.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]He is President of the International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF); Chair of the BHF Project Grants Committee; an emeritus NIHR Senior Investigator; and Associate Editor of Osteoporosis International. He has previously served as Chairman of the IOF Committee of Scientific Advisors; Chairman, MRC Population Health Sciences Research Network; and as Chairman of the National Osteoporosis Society of Great Britain. He is Past-President of the Bone Research Society of Great Britain and has worked on numerous Department of Health, European Community and World Health Organisation committees and working groups. Professor Cooper has published extensively (over 900 research papers; hi=119) on osteoporosis and rheumatic disorders and pioneered clinical studies on the developmental origins of peak bone mass. In 2015, he was awarded an OBE for services to medical research.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]