Endocrine Abstracts

Niels E Skakkebæk, University Department of Growth and Reproduction, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark Abstract

Neils Skakkebaek graduated from Medical School, Copenhagen (1964) and received basic medical training at the St. Joseph's Hospital, Copenhagen and was also trained in pediatrics and medicine at various hospitals in Copenhagen and was awarded a doctorate in Medical Sciences from the University of Copenhagen.

He has worked in various research laboratories both nationally and internationally, including the Pacific Northwest Research Foundation, Seattle, USA and the MRC Reproductive Centre, Edinburgh, UK. In 1982, he was appointed Professor of Pediatrics, University of Copenhagen, Fuglebakken Children's Hospital and Hvidovre Hospital. In 1990 he was appointed Chairman of University Department of Growth and Reproduction, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen and since 2006 he has been a consultant at the same institution.

His research interests mainly lie in researching the various aspects of the male reproduction and its disorders including testicular function, testicular cancer, gene expression in the testis and testicular neoplasia. He had earlier demonstrated carcinoma in situ (CIS) testis as the precursor of testicular germ cell tumours and had shown that CIS can be detected early by biopsy and eradicated by local irradiation of the testis. He has also provided scientific evidence for adverse trends in male reproductive health and for an aetiological link between male reproductive disorders.

He has published approximately 450 papers, more than 350 of them in international peer reviewed journals. He has also received various awards including the Anna & Jakob Jakobsen's Award (1992), Novo Nordisk Research Prize (1993) Andrea Prader Prize awarded by the European Society of Pediatric Endocrinology (1996), W Nielsen's Award (2001), Codan Prize (2004) and in 2006 was awarded the KFJ Medical Research Prize by Copenhagen University. In 2005 he was made Honorary Member of European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE), in 2005 Honorary Member of the Finnish Paediatric Society and in 2006, Doctor h.c., University of Turku, Finland.