The absolute highlight of the Symposium was the prestigious Karel Bakker award, that was given to professor Ben Lipsky. Previous award winners were professor A Boulton, professor J Apelqvist, mrs A Foster, professor P Cavanagh and professor M Edmonds. This unique 4-yearly award is given to honor scientists and clinicians, who have made major contributions to our understanding , prevention and treatment of diabetic foot disease and the recipient should fulfil the following criteria:
- dedicated to diabetic foot disease for many years
- acts as the patient’s advocate
- is an excellent and original scientist,
- is an example of a multidisciplinary team player,
- shares his/her expertise by teaching and training.
Ben Lipksy fulfils all these criteria and for many years he is a leading and influential scientist, expert and teacher in the field of diabetic foot disease. Professor Lipsky’s work in the area of diabetic foot infections has been pivotal in improving the diagnosis and management of this limb threatening complication of diabetes. He has published more than 220 scientific papers and he is also closely involved in the development of guidelines, both in the USA and world-wide. This work has contributed to saving of many legs of diabetic patients all over the world.
