(Vienna, 27.11.2023) The Herbert Lauterbach Prize, endowed with 15,000 euros, is awarded annually for outstanding research aimed at improving the prevention, treatment and rehabilitation of accident victims and people with occupational diseases. This year's prizewinners include Thomas Haider from MedUni Vienna's Department of Orthopaedics and Trauma Surgery.
Thomas Haider (Division of Trauma Surgery, Department of Orthopaedics and Trauma Surgery, MedUni Vienna) and co-first author Iris Leister (BG Unfallklinik Murnau) were honoured for their research work "A Predictive Model to Identify Treatment-related Risk Factors for Odontoid Fracture Nonunion Using Machine Learning". The article, published in the journal "Spine" in 2022, deals with the risk factors for an odontoid fracture that can occur as a result of trauma to the cervical spine and was highlighted as the "best clinical work of all BG accident clinics". The prize was awarded at the DKOU 2023 (Deutscher Kongress für Orthopädie und Unfallchirurgie) in Berlin.
About the person
Thomas Haider is a specialist in orthopaedics and traumatology at the Division of Trauma Surgery at MedUni Vienna's Department of Orthopaedics and Trauma Surgery. He completed the Medicine Degree Programme at the Medical University of Vienna in 2014. As part of his PhD thesis, he worked in the laboratory of Professor Hendrik Jan Ankersmit (Department of Thoracic Surgery) on novel therapeutic approaches for spinal cord injuries. For fellowships and study visits, Thomas Haider travelled to Germany (Heidelberg), the USA (Boston) and England (Birmingham), among other places. In 2021, Thomas Haider habilitated on the topic of "Inflammation after trauma".