Professor Dirk Dressler, Head of Movement Disorders Section, Department of Neurology, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany, received the prestigious SYMTOX life time award for his contributions to botulinum toxin therapy.

The award acknowledges his more than 30 years of research in this field, which produced more than 500 scientific publications, numerous book chapters and several books. The ceremony took place during the 4th SYMTOX congress in Sao Paulo.

The SYMTOX congress takes place every 3 years. It is the central congress for all users and researchers on botulinum toxin therapy in Latinamerica. This time, more than 350 participants from all Latinamerican countries met for an intense 3 days program. Focus was botulinum toxin research and the numerous clinical applications of botulinum toxin. ‘Lateinamerica is a gigantic region with more than 500 million inhabitants. Brasil, Mexico and Argentina are huge markets for botulinum toxin thrapy. That means there is a vast body of clinical knowledge. In the meantime, in these 3 markets an active research scene developed including basic research’, explains Professor Dressler. His keynote lecture focussed on translational botulinum toxin research. ‘From basic research to botulinum toxin therapy: Only if we manage to bridge this gap we can expect progress in botulinum toxin therapy. We are proud to have contributed to this crosslink. This award is also an acknowledgement for our partners here in Hannover’, said Professor Dressler, who – over the last 15 years – gave numerous presentations, organised many workshop in the region and translated several of his books into Spanish and Portuguese.