Professor Emeritus Colm O’ Moráin honoured with Lifetime Achievement Award
Posted on: 13 November 2018
Professor Emeritus Colm O’Moráin has been honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the United European Gastroenterology (UEG) for his contributions to gastroenterology. Each year UEG recognises outstanding individuals who have made fundamental contributions to gastroenterology as a whole and the UEG community in particular.
This prestigious honour is given to an individual who has had a career spanning at least 30 years, whose outstanding accomplishments have significantly improved the lives of people with gastrointestinal diseases and whose contributions, leadership and impact have been of importance for UEG and is widely acknowledged by the broader gastroenterological community.
Professor O’Morain was Consultant Gastroenterologist and Professor of Medicine at the Faculty of Health Sciences and the Adelaide & Meath National Children’s Hospital in Tallaght Dublin. As Dean of the Faculty and during his academic career, he has been a key opinion leader in three major fields of gastroenterology.
On receiving the award Professor O’Morain said: “This award is the pinnacle of my career as it recognises internationally my efforts in research and commitment to Pan-European organisations.”
Professor O’Moráin was one of the first to establish that eradication of H. pylori could cure peptic ulcers permanently and was integrated worldwide in all aspects of H.pylori research and treatment. He lead a laboratory based research programme focusing on fish oils, vitamins and the role of nutrition, as well as the role of heparin in the treatment of IBD. Professor O’Morain was instrumental in advocating for colorectal cancer screening on a national as well as on a pan-European level.
Advocacy work by UEG in Brussels was initiated under his chairmanship of the UEG Public Affairs Committee. During his tenure as UEG President 2012-2013, the House of European Gastroenterology in Vienna was opened and he was active in the European Parliament in advocating for increased funding for health research in his position as President of the Alliance for Biomedical Research in Europe.
Professor O’Morain received the award on Monday 22nd October 2018 on the occasion of the Opening Session of UEG Week at the Austria Centre in Vienna.