The LEO Pharma Research Foundation Awards are given to young scientists whose work represents an extraordinary contribution to medical research. The winners of 2009 are: PhD, MD Christian Vestergaard, Gold Award Winner PhD, MD Christian Vestergaard is a very talented Danish scientist with an outstanding record of internationally recognised publications, and innovative ongoing research projects within the frontier fields of skin immunology and skin cancer. LEO Pharma is awarding the prize to Dr Vestergaard as an acknowledgment of his work and support of his future projects but also in recognition of the importance of linking basic science to the understanding of clinical questions. Dr Vestergaard and his group are based in the Department of Dermatology at Aarhus University Hospital in Denmark. Christian Vestergaard's Biography PhD, MD Ilkka Helenterä, Silver Award Winner PhD, MD Ilkka Helenterä is a very promising Finnish physician and scientist. Dr Helanterä is 31 years old, and – despite his young age – he has already contributed significantly to the field of transplantation nephrology both in the laboratory and the clinic. After his dissertation in 2006, Dr Helanterä has continued his research at the Helsinki University Hospital Nephrology Clinic in Finland, where he has published several clinically relevant studies focusing on viral infections after transplantation and the pathogenesis of chronic allograft nephropathy. Dr Helanterä will without doubt be a significant contributor in the international nephrology field in the future. Ilkka Helenterä's Biography