IMF Co-founders Receive a Joint Honorary Doctorate in Recognition of Scientific Excellence 

Watch the ceremony at Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) in Brussels

In a ceremony on April 2, 2019 dedicated to “the beauty, the power, and the wisdom of science,” International Myeloma Foundation (IMF) Co-founder and President, Susie Durie, and Chairman Brian G.M. Durie, MD were awarded a joint honorary doctorate for scientific excellence from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) at a ceremony in Brussels, Belgium. Jacques Cousteau, Nelson Mandela, and Václav Havel are among past recipients of the award.

Transcript:

Prof. Dr. Van Camp:
Doctor Honoris Causa of University are very important in academic life because the university is giving the title of Doctor to people who have made a difference in society in general.

Prof. Dr. Vanderkerken:
These Doctor Honoris Causa are given yearly by University to people who meant something special. It can be in science, in art, society, and famous examples are Nelson Mandela, and Jacques Cousteau.

Prof. Dr. Van Camp:
If I go through the list of the Doctor Honoris Causa since our existence at the University, a lot of Nobel Prize winners received it before they got a Nobel Prize. So the University already knew these are people who are very important, because they made a difference.

Speaker 3:
Brian Durie and Suzie Durie, our honorary Doctors.

Prof. Dr. Vanderkerken:
It is the first that our University gives to joint Doctor Honoris Caus. And it's to a couple, which is very special and I think it's because of their joint efforts. He being a scientist, a medical doctor, and then Suzy doing the foundation, the patient empowerment, but also the information to scientists and this combination of both of them, the synergy, how they work, and it's such a good example to scientists, to medical persons, but also to how the societal impact is of their work.

Speaker 3:
What would you personally consider to be the biggest achievement that you made through this IMF?

Susie Durie:
Empowering patients to have the courage to question their Doctor about what treatment is right for them, and empowered patients do better.

Dr. Brian Durie:
I think that the creation of this international myeloma working group has been a key achievement for us because we have brought together 250 of the top experts in the world to work collaboratively together.

Prof. Dr. Van Camp:
International Myeloma Foundation is an example for many other foundations, how to work and to make a difference for the patients who are dealing with that disease.

Dr. Brian Durie:
This has been a very special time here in Brussels to receive this honorary Doctorate of Medicine, which has recognized the work of the International Myeloma Foundation and myself and Susie over the past three decades. This has been a really quite emotional for us to be a part of a ceremony involving some very prominent people recognized for areas which are very diverse, but focus on the importance of understanding and knowledge and truth, and the importance of really bringing those things together to achieve the best outcomes.

Susie Durie:
Here we are so many years later, we have expanded and grown, and to be recognized for all the changes that we made for people all over the world, to have this incredible honor bestowed on us, I was over the moon. It just goes to show that we can make huge changes in people's lives for the better. And I really truly believe we are on the cusp of being able to start curing a subset of myeloma patients. And that's my dream.

Dr. Brian Durie:
One thing that came out of this ceremony here in Brussels was really a new awareness, a new platform for the future, that we really have reached an important level of achievement, but now we can move forward and even more strongly for the future.

Prof. Dr. Van Camp:
They achieved so many things in these 30 years, and if you see what happened within this International Myeloma Foundation, it is really incredible. The focus, the energy, the synergy, the quality has been tremendous and I really want to congratulate them for all that.