Sir George Radda held a lecture on the metabolic background of diseases and the new opportunities in molecular imaging at the Basic Medical Science Centre. He is a professor at the University of Oxford as well as one of the world’s most renowned science politicians. He visited Semmelweis University in 2011 when he was awarded the Semmelweis Budapest Award.
The opening speech briefly introducing Sir George Radda was held by Dr. Miklós Kellermayer, Director of the Institute of Biophysics and Radiation Biology. He pointed out that Sir Radda, a professor of chemistry with Hungarian origins, have contributed to science in innumerable ways.
“He settled down in Oxford in 1956 and earned a degree at Merton College. He is often referred to as the father of MRI scans as he made it possible that MRI scans are now routine procedures in the clinical practice”, Dr. Kellermayer said.
Sir Radda is a decorated scientists holding several awards, such as the Buchanan Medal of the Royal Society, the title of honorary doctor at Semmelweis University and the university’s most prestigious award, the Semmelweis Budapest Award.
Sir George Radda held a lecture titled “The Metabolic Basis of Human Diseases: New Insights through Molecular Imaging”. He recalled the hypothesis of Otto Warburg, a Nobel laureate biochemist in the first half of the 20th century, which postulated that the cause of cancer and other diseases was primarily of metabolic nature.
“In the past ten years the role of metabolism has become the centre of attention. This year several papers have already been published which emphasize the significant part metabolism plays in the formation of cancer.”, Sir Radda said.
He gave a brief overview on the evolution of medical science and came to the conclusion that the main task of the 21st century is to understand the connection between the regulation of genetic operations and the metabolic network. To enable in vivo studies for the detailed analysis of metabolism, modern imaging technology is required, which has already been implemented in case of diabetes and heart disease.
Sir George Radda is the chairman of the Biomedical Research Council of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) in Singapore, and has already launched a research programme dealing with the metabolism of cancer.
Following the lecture, a round table was held on the managing and financing of research and development. In the discussion Dr. Péter Ferdinandy, Director of the Department of Pharmacology and Pharmacotherapy represented the researchers’ point of view; Dr. György Erőss from GE Hungary spoke about the cooperative opportunities between private companies and universities and Sir George Radda emphasized the social responsibility of researchers.
Pálma Dobozi
Photo: Attila Kovács, Semmelweis University
Translation: Ágnes Raubinek
