Physician and associate professor (docent) of Clinical Epidemiology and Child Health Andrew Agbaje of the University of Eastern Finland has been recognised with the Flemming Quaade Award for Innovative Approaches to Childhood Obesity by the American Society for Nutrition Foundation (ASNF) and the Novo Nordisk Foundation (NNF). Award benefits include a research grant of 500,000 Danish Kroner, i.e., approximately 70,000 US dollars and a travel stipend to present an invited lecture at NUTRITION 2025 in Orlando, Florida, US.
According to the ASNF-NNF press release, “Agbaje is the first recipient of the Flemming Quaade Award for Innovative Approaches to Childhood Obesity, honouring early-career physicians who have made exceptional contributions to obesity prevention or management. Agbaje’s groundbreaking research has shown that waist circumference-to-height ratio is a more accurate predictor of obesity and metabolic diseases than BMI. His recently launched clinical calculator for this metric represents a potentially transformative tool for early detection and management of childhood obesity.
He discovered arterial stiffness as a novel risk factor for paediatric obesity and insulin resistance and was the world’s third most highly ranked scholar in the arterial stiffness specialty in the past 5 years. He identified adolescence as the critical time to interrupt the fat mass-insulin resistance pathologic cycle and demonstrated light-intensity physical activity as a highly effective antidote for reversing excessive fat deposit induced by childhood sedentariness.”
The official award ceremony will be held in Orlando, Florida, US, on Sunday, June 1, 2025, during the NUTRITION 2025 annual scientific conference, where Agbaje will present his research findings. Other prestigious award is the ASNF-NNF Henrik Dam Award for Scientific Discovery in Nutrition presented to Julia Finkelstein, ScD, MPH, a globally recognised expert in vitamin B12 and one-carbon metabolism and an Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Nutrition at the Division of Nutrition Sciences at Cornell University, US. Both award lectures will be streamed live through the NUTRITION 2025 Digital Pass.
“The work of Drs Finkelstein and Agbaje exemplifies the scientific impact we aim to recognize with these awards. Expanding the evidence base to bridge knowledge gaps and support nutrition interventions is critical,” stated Paul M. Coates, PhD, Chair, Board of Trustees of the American Society for Nutrition Foundation. “We commend the Novo Nordisk Foundation for their extraordinary commitment to support these talented investigators.”
“I am incredibly humbled to be selected as the inaugural recipient of this world-class award, immortalizing the unprecedented contribution of Dr Flemming Quaade (1923-2007) to preventing childhood obesity. It is astounding that my research could have such an impact and have the potential to change clinical practice. Last year, I received the prestigious European Association for the Study of Obesity EASO-NNF New Investigator Award in Child Obesity with a research grant of 300,000 Danish Kroner. I profoundly appreciate the Novo Nordisk Foundation for the significant investment in childhood obesity research,” says Andrew Agbaje.
“It is with great pleasure that we congratulate the first two winners of the ASNF-NNF awards. These awards aim to acknowledge early and mid-career professionals for their innovative research within the growing field of nutritional science and health,” expressed Arne Astrup, Professor, MD, DMSc, and Senior Vice President of Obesity and Nutrition Science at the Novo Nordisk Foundation.”
“None of these awards and recognition would have been possible without the extraordinary research collaboration between the University of Eastern Finland, the University of Bristol, and the University of Exeter in the UK, and the financial support of several funders. We appreciate the Children of the 90s who continue to participate in the three-decade-long study, contributing world-class data that is updating paediatric cardiometabolic health research,” Agbaje concludes.
American Society for Nutrition Foundation Award Announcement
Novo Nordisk Foundation Award Announcement
For further information, please contact:
Andrew Agbaje, MD, MPH, PhD, FACC, FESC, FAHA, FNYAM, Cert. Clinical Research (Harvard), Associate Professor (Docent) of Clinical Epidemiology and Child Health, Principal Investigator (urFIT-child). Institute of Public Health and Clinical Nutrition, School of Medicine, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland. andrew.agbaje@uef.fi, +358 46 896 5633
Honorary Research Fellow – Children's Health and Exercise Research Centre, Public Health and Sports Sciences Department, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK. a.agbaje@exeter.ac.uk
Webpage: urFIT-child research group
About ASNF-NNF Flemming Quaade Award
This award is named for Danish physician Flemming Quaade, a forerunner in obesity research for his time, whose groundbreaking work continues to shape the field of metabolism and weight management. Quaade’s research in the 1960s on very-low-calorie diets, including the development of the protein-sparing modified fast, revolutionized the treatment of severe obesity. His work laid the foundation for modern dietary approaches and contributed to the understanding of the metabolic and hormonal changes that occur during fasting and weight loss. The Flemming Quaade Award celebrates this legacy by encouraging early-career physicians to push the boundaries of research, explore novel interventions, and develop sustainable, effective strategies for addressing childhood obesity—a public health challenge that demands the same spirit of innovation and dedication that Dr. Quaade embodied throughout his career.
https://nutrition.org/introducing-two-new-prestigious-awards-to-advance-nutrition-obesity-science/
About the American Society for Nutrition Foundation
The American Society for Nutrition Foundation (ASNF) complements and enhances ASN priorities and activities through the dissemination and application of nutrition science and education to improve public health and clinical practice worldwide and advancing the Society’s role as a global leader in nutrition, health, and wellness. The ASNF's broad portfolio of activities includes education, awards and scholarships, as well as recognition of lifetime achievement through our renowned Fellows program. The ASNF also raises funds to turn current challenges facing the field into opportunities that support the future. Visit us at nutrition.org/foundation.
About the Novo Nordisk Foundation
Established in Denmark in 1924, the Novo Nordisk Foundation is an enterprise foundation with philanthropic objectives. The vision of the Foundation is to improve people’s health and the sustainability of society and the planet. The Foundation’s mission is to progress research and innovation in the prevention and treatment of cardiometabolic and infectious diseases as well as to advance knowledge and solutions to support a green transformation of society. The funds for these philanthropic purposes derive from the foundation's majority ownership in the pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk and investments in other companies. The investments and assets are managed by the foundation's investment arm Novo Holdings. Visit us at: https://novonordiskfonden.dk/en/
