Ceremony in the Oslo University Aula May 9th: King Olav V´s Cancer Research Award for 2022 to Håvard Danielsen

Professor Håvard E. Danielsen is this year’s recipient of the King Olav V's Cancer Research Prize.

He has been awarded the prize for having developed methods using artificial intelligence (AI) that can give cancer patients a more precise prognosis and counteract overtreatment.

King Olav V's Cancer Research Prize

In 1992, the year after King Olav’s death, King Harald of Norway established a new prize for cancer research in honour of his late father.

The King Olav V Cancer Research Foundation, established by King Harald and the Norwegian Cancer Society awards a prize of 1,000,000 Norwegian kroner each year to a Norwegian cancer researcher or researchers who have contributed to the promotion of Norwegian cancer research.

His Majesty the King was responsible for the solemn presentation of the award during a ceremony held in the university’s auditorium in Oslo on May 9^th 2022.

Professor Danielsen and the Institute for Cancer Genetics and Informatics are deeply honored to receive this Award.

About Professor Håvard E. Danielsen

The award recipient is considered a pioneer and a world-leading expert in digital pathology and artificial intelligence. At Oslo University Hospital, he heads the Department of Cancer Genetics and Informatics (ICGI), part of the Cancer Clinic. ICGI researches in biomedicine and informatics, and develops new diagnostic and prognostic markers for customized treatment of cancer.

In the period 2016 - 2021, the institute led the Lighthouse project DoMore, which was funded by the Research Council of Norway.

Many years of experience at the Norwegian Radium hospital

With funding from the Norwegian Cancer Society, the now 64-year-old Danielsen began his career at The Norwegian Radium Hospital in 1987, as a research fellow within the field of image analysis and electron microscopy. Since 1992, he has held various management positions at the hospital, which became part of Oslo University Hospital in 2005.

In 2004, the hospital (Radiumhospitalet-Rikshospitalet) established an integrated institute that linked IT and biology, Norway's first institute for medical informatics. The Institute has been headed by Danielsen since.

The department has around 70 employees and is organized into 3 departments, as well as a satellite at the University of Oslo. Several researchers and clinicians hold part-time positions at the ICGI. Employees originate from 15 nationalities, and are qualified in several fields like computer development, pathology, laboratory technology, nursing, image analysis, system operation and cytogenetic analysis.

Employees describe Danielsen as an innovative, creative, and visionary leader who throughout his career has been good at challenging established ideas. In addition to leading the institute, Danielsen also holds a Professor II position at the University of Oslo's Department of Informatics, and a "Visiting Professor of Cancer Informatics" position at Oxford University in the UK.

His interests in culture and music, golf and boating occupy a lot of his time, but this has not stopped him in publishing over 160 articles so far, in leading medical journals. Not surprisingly, 15 patent applications have also been filed.

- With King Olav V's Cancer Research Prize awarded from the same organization that supported my doctorate degree, the circle is now complete, says Danielsen. We have just started using artificial intelligence within health care. I am very grateful for this recognition and the funding will give us the opportunity to further develop new methods for the benefit of cancer patients, he adds.

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From the Oslo Cancer Cluster home page:
AI researcher gets cancer award