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Expert on blood doping can be praised as New Settler of the Year
Nelson Khoo from Canada, co-founder of the Umeå company Pro Test Diagnostics, has been nominated for New Settler of the Year. On Wednesday, November 18, it will be decided if he wins in Region North, which means that he will advance to the national final in Stockholm.
”It feels absolutely fantastic. If I win, I get to meet the King of Sweden – it's a life time opportunity”, says Nelson Khoo.
The New Settler of the Year award can go to a entrepreneur who has recently come to Sweden and founded a company that has been active for at least two years. One of the Region North’s nominees is Canadian Nelson Khoo, one of the founders of Pro Test Diagnostics. The company sits on Umeå Biotech Incubator and has developed a unique test to detect blood doping.
”I was genuinely surprised when I heard that I had been nominated. But of course happy! Whether I win or not, I feel like a winner!” says Nelson Khoo.
In the competition, the entrepreneur is judged on six points – entrepreneurial spirit, economic development, strategic focus, innovation, personal influence and impact on the outside world.
”I did not run my own company in Canada, but I have consulted for other companies and colleagues. Being able to attract and seek capital is difficult in both countries, but Sweden has a more coordinated national system for it. It has been valuable for me to have a good network around me in Sweden. As an entrepreneur, unexpected things always turn up and you can need help”, says Nelson Khoo.
Until now it has been impossible to detect athletes who try to cheat by having a blood transfusion using their own blood. Now, thanks to a new test kit from Pro Test Diagnostics based at the Umeå Biotech Incubator, this method of doping can be detected.
The test kit analyses the molecular fingerprint of the blood, which changes if it is stored in a frozen state outside the body. The test kit recognises any fingerprint changes and can, with a high degree of accuracy, determine whether or not an athlete has been blood doped.
The major investor of the company is Umeå based Fort Knox.
”There is an enormous need internationally for our test to be launched onto the market, especially from many of the anti-doping organizations, such as the American Partnership for Clean Competition (PCC)”, says Nelson Khoo.
If Nelson Khoo wins nationally in Stockholm, he will receive the award from H.M. King Carl XVI Gustaf.
”Then I would probably be a little nervous. But at the same time it would be exciting – and an opportunity you only get once in a lifetime”, says Nelson Khoo.
The IFS Foundation annually arranges H.M. King Carl XVI Gustaf’s prize New settler of the year. The aim is to celebrate and highlight entrepreneurs with foreign backgrounds and to increase interest in entrepreneurship. The prize will show good role models and inspire tomorrow’s entrepreneurs with a foreign background.
For more information, please contact:
Nelson Khoo, COO and co-founder Pro Test Diagnostics
+46 73-654 23 74
nelson.khoo@protestdiagnostics.com
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Umeå Biotech Incubator (UBI) is one of Sweden’s state-of-the-art business incubators within the life sciences. We help researchers to use their data to the benefit of patients and citizens, improving their health. We support and train entrepreneurs in the fields of pharmaceuticals, diagnostics and medical engineering, and act as a bridge between academia, medicine and the business community.
