Osteoporosis researcher receives IOF Medal of Achievement

Annual award honors researcher who has advanced knowledge of osteoporosis through original and outstanding scientific contributions

Today, at the European Congress on Osteoporosis & Osteoarthritis, Professor Cyrus Cooper was awarded the International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) Medal of Achievement.

The IOF Medal of Achievement is presented annually by IOF to honour an individual researcher who has significantly advanced the field of osteoporosis through his original and outstanding scientific contributions. The award underlines important aspects of IOF's mission - to increase understanding and awareness of osteoporosis and to promote medical innovation and improved care.

IOF President John A Kanis, Co-Chair of the European Congress on Osteoporosis & Osteoarthritis, said, "I have had the privilege of collaborating with Cyrus Cooper for nearly two decades. Over this period, he has contributed significantly to the epidemiology of osteoporosis, in the broadest sense of the word, and continues to do so."

Cyrus Cooper MA, DM, FRCP, FFPH, FMedSci, is Professor of Rheumatology and Director of the MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit at the University of Southampton, and Chair of Musculoskeletal Science at the University of Oxford. Professor Cooper graduated from the University of Cambridge and St Bartholomew's Hospital, London, and completed his residency at the Southampton University Hospitals. In 1990, he won an MRC Travelling Fellowship to the Mayo Clinic, USA, where he continued his research in osteoporosis. He later held a position as Senior Lecturer in Rheumatology and MRC Senior Clinical Scientist, and became foundation Chair in Rheumatology at the University of Southampton in 1997 while continuing as an MRC Senior Clinical Scientist at the MRC Environmental Epidemiology Unit. In 2003, he was appointed Director of the MRC Epidemiology Resource Centre, University of Southampton, now reconfigured as the MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit.

He leads an internationally competitive programme of research into the epidemiology of musculoskeletal disorders, most notably osteoporosis. His key research contributions have been: discovery of the developmental influences which contribute to the risk of osteoporosis and hip fracture in late adulthood; demonstration that maternal vitamin D insufficiency is associated with sub-optimal bone mineral accrual in childhood; characterisation of the definition and incidence rates of vertebral fractures; leadership of large pragmatic randomised controlled trials of calcium and vitamin D supplementation in the elderly as immediate preventative strategies against hip fracture. Professor Cooper is Chairman of the IOF Committee of Scientific Advisors; Chair of the MRC Population Health Sciences Research Network; Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Southampton; and Associate Editor of 'Osteoporosis International'. He has published more than 500 research papers on osteoporosis and rheumatic disorders and pioneered clinical studies on the developmental origins of peak bone mass.

Professor Cooper stated, "It is an honour and privilege to receive this award. It is also testimony to the hard work of so many excellent team members and collaborators who have contributed to our research programme, as well as the institutions that have provided such welcome support, most notably the Medical Research Council and Universities of Southampton and Oxford. We shall continue our efforts to understand the causes and prevent the consequences, of osteoporosis and other disabling musculoskeletal conditions."