Michel Moortgat, CEO of brewers Duvel Moortgat, was last week presented with the fourth-ever Michael Jackson beer award, named after the late influential beer critic. Moortgat, 44, was described as “a charismatic leader who has led his brewery to unprecedented heights in the last 10 years”. Moortgat was recently named manager of the year by Trends magazine.

Professor Bart De Strooper, head of the Centre for Human Genetics at the Catholic University of Leuven and the department of developmental and molecular genetics of the Flemish Institute for Biotechnology, has been awarded the UCB Prize for neuro research, worth €100,000, by the Queen Elisabeth Medical Foundation. De Strooper carries out research into Alzheimer’s disease, in particular the creation of microRNA in the brain cells, which changes as Alzheimer’s develops and could lead to the discovery of new drugs to slow or arrest the disease’s progress. Two other researchers from the neurophysiology department of the medical faculty at Leuven were also awarded prizes: Professor Wim Vanduffel and professor Rufin Vogels. Professor Christine Van Broeckhoven of the University of Antwerp, whose research into dementia recently won her a European Inventor Award, was also among the winners.