Visionary fetal medicine expert, Professor Kypros Nicolaides, honored with Austria’s most prestigious medical award

On 27 September 2024, Professor Kypros Nicolaides, one of the leading pioneers in fetal medicine, was awarded the Semmelweis Prize for his transformative contributions to obstetric care. The award, presented at the annual conference of the Austrian Society of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, recognises Nicolaides’ groundbreaking work at King’s College Hospital since 1980.

©NHS King’s College Hospital

Professor Nicolaides was praised for revolutionising prenatal diagnostics and care, in particular for pioneering screening techniques such as the fetal nuchal translucency test to assess the risk of Down’s syndrome, and for developing methods to predict preterm birth and pre-eclampsia. His pioneering surgical interventions on unborn babies, including treatments for twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome and diaphragmatic hernia, have saved numerous lives and were highlighted in the 2020 Netflix documentary “The Surgeon’s Cut”.

Professor Christian Marth, from Innsbruck Medical University in Austria, praised Nicolaides as a visionary who has profoundly shaped fetal health, transforming and improving lives worldwide. In addition, Nicolaides’ passion for training and mentoring future medical professionals has had a lasting impact on countless students and practitioners worldwide. His research has been cited more than 170,000 times and his H index—the highest of any obstetrician and gynaecologist worldwide—is exceeding 200.

Upon receiving the award, Nicolaides expressed his gratitude and reaffirmed his commitment to advancing medical treatments for pregnant women and their unborn babies.

The Semmelweis Prize honours the Hungarian physician Ignaz Semmelweis, an early pioneer and advocate of antiseptic procedures in obstetrics.

Our hearfelt congratulations

We would like to extend our heartfelt congratulations to Professor Nicolaides on this well-deserved award and express our sincere gratitude for his exemplary cooperation and unwavering support! We are truly honored to have Professor Nicolaides as a member of our esteemed EFCNI Scientific Advisory Board and are particularly grateful for his valuable contributions to raising awareness of various fetal and maternal health issues.

For example, we recently reported on a study on the crucial topic of pre-eclampsia prediction , in which Professor Nicolaides was also involved: ‘Machine learning-enabled maternal risk assessment for women with pre-eclampsia (the PIERS-ML model): a modelling study’

In our ‘Ask an Expert’ campaign, on the other hand, he offers insightful perspectives on the challenges of hemolytic disease of the fetus and newborn (HDFN) and the role of specialist centres, once for women at risk and once for healthcare professionals – but have a look for yourself:

Expert statement for women at risk of HDFN