OUS Researcher Awards 2025 - ceremony June 6th Excellent researcher awards to Per Kristian Eide, Ibrahim Akkouh and Mehrdad Rakaee

Three Oslo University Hospital scientists received prestigous awards for their outstanding research on June 6th.

The major prize - the "Excellent Researcher Award" - went to Per Kristian Eide.

Ibrahim Akkouh and Mehrdad Rakaee both received the "Early Career Award".

The prize money - 400.000 and 200.000 NOK respectively - is earmarked for research activities.

The awards are distributed annually in order to honour excellent scientific work. The awarding process is organized by the hospital's research committee, while an external Scientific Advisory Board has evaluated the candidates. 

About this year's award winners:

Excellent Researcher Award

Per Kristian Eide:

Per Kristian Eide is a consultant/section head at the Department of Neurosurgery at the Division of Neuroscience, and professor at the Institute of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo. Eide currently heads the K.G. Jebsen Center for Cerebrospinal Fluid Research.

Committee statement:

Per Kristian Eide is a distinguished neurovascular surgeon and an internationally recognized expert in the field of neurofluids. With over 25 years of clinical experience at the Department of Neurosurgery at Oslo University Hospital (OUH), and as Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Oslo, he has made enduring contributions to both clinical practice and scientific advancement. At 61, Professor Eide has authored 248 original scientific publications, holds numerous patents, and has an H-index of 61 - underscoring the high impact of his work.

His research has significantly advanced our understanding of solute transport and waste clearance in the human brain, an area traditionally reliant on animal studies due to challenges of in vivo investigation in humans. Through innovative approaches, Professor Eide and his collaborators have studied exchange of larger non-water molecules between cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) spaces and the brain parenchyma. Among his most notable findings are the identification of a previously unrecognized compartment surrounding cortical arteries, crucial for CSF-mediated transport, and pioneering studies demonstrating molecular passage from the subarachnoid space to the meninges and skull bone marrow, highlighting potential mechanisms for neuroimmune interaction.

In parallel with his research, Professor Eide has made lasting contributions to the surgical management of CSF-related disorders, including Chiari malformations, idiopathic intracranial hypertension, and idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus - a condition with significant implications for treatable dementia. He has also been at the forefront of developing and implementing intrathecal enhanced MRI as a less invasive alternative to traditional intracranial pressure monitoring, a technique now adopted as standard care at OUH.

His leadership and vision were further recognized with the establishment of the K.G. Jebsen Centre for Brain Fluid Research in 2024. Professor Eide's work continues to enhance the scientific environment at Oslo University Hospital and strengthen its international reputation.

Given his exceptional scientific achievements, clinical innovations, and leadership, Professor Per Kristian Eide is an outstanding nominee for the 2025 Excellence Researcher Award at Oslo University Hospital.

Per Kristian Eide
Neurovascular & Cerebrospinal Fluid Research Group, headed by Per Kristian Eide
Department of Neurosurgery

Early Career Awards:

Ibrahim Akkouh

Ibrahim Akkouh is a researcher in Srdjan Djurovic's group at the Department of Medical Genetics at the Division og Laboratory Medicine, and at the Institute of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo

Committe statement:

Dr. Ibrahim Akkouh is a molecular biologist and bioinformatician who earned his Ph.D. in Molecular Psychiatry from the University of Oslo in 2020. Currently, he serves as a researcher in the Psychiatric Molecular Genetics group at the Department of Medical Genetics, Oslo University Hospital. His work bridges molecular biology and psychiatry, focusing on the biological underpinnings of severe psychiatric disorders.
 
Dr. Akkouh has made significant contributions to the field, particularly through his innovative use of induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) models to study disease mechanisms and treatment responses. His research has led to over 20 original publications, including papers in high-impact journals. Notably, his study on schizophrenia-derived brain organoids provided novel insights into the mechanisms of action of mood-stabilizers, earning recognition in an editorial press release.
 
Beyond his research, Dr. Akkouh has demonstrated leadership as co-Principal Investigator of a Helse Sør-Øst-funded project developing a psychopharmacological screening platform using iPSC-derived cortical organoids. He also contributes to the management of large-scale transcriptomic datasets at the Center for Precision Psychiatry.
 
Dr. Akkouh's interdisciplinary approach, combining cutting-edge molecular techniques with psychiatric research, positions him as a very promising leader in precision psychiatry. His achievements and ongoing contributions make him a highly deserving candidate for the Early Career Award in Medicine.

Ibrahim Akkouh
The Psychiatric Molecular Genetics Group, headed by Srdjan Djurovic
Department of Medical Genetics

Mehrdad Rakaee

Mehrdad Rakaee is a researcher in Åslaug Helland's group at the Department of Cancer Genetics at the Institute for Cancer Research, under the Division of Cancer Medicine.

Committe statement:

Dr Mehrdad Rakaee holds a Master’s degree in Applied Genetics, from Bangalore University and a Ph.D. in Biomedicine from the University of Tromsø (UiT). From 2020 to 2021, he was a visiting fellow at Harvard Medical School. Since 2023, he has served as a researcher at the Department of Cancer Genetics, Oslo University Hospital, Radiumhospitalet, and holds a part-time Associate Professorship at UiT. He has strong international collaborations and since 2024, he is Honorary Researcher at Imperial College London. He has published 38 original articles, several in high-impact international journals.

Dr. Rakaee has led multiple computational and AI-driven pathology projects in precision immunotherapy. He spearheaded the development of Deep-IO, a novel AI algorithm capable of predicting immunotherapy response directly from histology images in lung cancer. This innovative tool is currently being refined and validated for additional lung cancer subtypes. Beyond this, he also applies machine learning models to integrate RNA sequencing and multiple immunofluorescence (mIF) data from clinical trials, leading to the discovery of RNA and mIF signatures predictive of immunotherapy response. He is currently developing several additional AI-driven pipelines with strong preliminary results. Furthermore, he contributes to genomic pipeline development and clinical variant interpretation in the InPred/IMPRESS in Northern Norway initiatives, bridging research and clinical practice.

In 2024, Dr. Rakaee was awarded the Young Researcher Award of 2024 at Onkologisk Forum.
Dr Rakaee’s scientific excellence, innovative approach, and international collaborations make him an exceptional candidate for this award. His continued work promises to be of great strategic value to Oslo University Hospital.

Mehrdad Rakaee
Translational studies on solid tumours, headed by Åslaug Helland
Department of Cancer Genetics

Link:

News article from the main home page of Oslo University Hospital, where the award winners answer questions about their current research and how their findings may be of benefit for patients (in Norwegian):

Priser til fremragende forskere ved Oslo universitetssykehus 2025 (from www.oslo-universitetssykehus.no)

Previous award winners:
(click on year to read more)