Five young investigators receive prestigious grants at IOF’s 3rd Asia-Pacific Osteoporosis Meeting

Five young investigators from the Asia-Pacific region have been awarded prestigious grants on the closing day the IOF Regionals - 3rd Asia-Pacific Osteoporosis Meeting, a major medical conference organized by the International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) in Kuala Lumpur.

The presenting authors (40 years old or younger) of top ranking abstracts were awarded an IOF Young Investigator Award valued at USD 1,000 and were invited to present their work in oral presentations during a special plenary session.

The winners and the titles of their abstracts are as follows:

• Zhaoli Dai (Singapore): Dietary Carotenoids Reduced Hip Fracture Risk in Lean Men: The Singapore Chinese Health Study
• Freddy Man Hin Lam (Hong Kong, China): Changes in Bone Density and Strength Index in Lower Limb Skeletal Sites Among Patients with Long-standing Stroke
• Hafsa Majid (Pakistan): R990G Polymorphism of Calcium Sensing Receptor (CaSR) Gene is Associated with Parathyroid Hormone and Calcium Levels in Subjects with Vitamin D Deficiency
• Baemisla Shiek Ahmad (Australia): Longitudinal Associations of Antiepileptic Drug (AED) Therapy with Bone Mineral Measures and Postural Stability
• C. Shivaprasad (India): Evolution of Volumetric BMD of the Lumbar Spine During Puberty and Its Determinants in Adolescent Indian Girls

To date, more than 35 young researchers from Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Middle-East & Africa have received IOF Young Investigator Awards. The Awards reflect IOF's dedication to advancing scientific knowledge on osteoporosis, and in particular to promoting innovative research by young researchers in all parts of the world.

In Kuala Lumpur, IOF also held its 2nd IOF Young Investigator Mentoring Programme, an important new initiative of the IOF Committee of Scientific Advisors which was held for the first time in the Asia-Pacific region on December 13, 2012.

A select number of young investigators were invited to attend an exclusive hands-on course which focuses on research, writing publications and delivering presentations. The full-day course, led by a renowned faculty of experts, teaches practical skills and provides insightful feedback that will be of great value to the young scientists as they further their careers in bone research.