Award-Winning Research for the Patient
DKFZ awards Richtzenhain Prize and Dr. Emil-Salzer Prize
The jury at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) chose two outstanding young researchers, Matthias Eder and Mathias Heikenwälder, whose research findings can be directly translated into clinical practice.
Dr. Matthias Eder (left), Prof. Dr. Mathias Heikenwälder
© dkfz.de
The 2012 Richtzenhain Prize winner, Professor Dr. Mathias Heikenwälder, is only 36 years old and already a well-known expert on the links between chronic inflammation and cancer. Just a few years ago, he was able to show how hepatitis B and C viruses cause liver cancer. Infection with these pathogens causes an inflammation in the liver which promotes the development of cancer. Based on these findings, clinical trials are being prepared for substances which interrupt this inflammatory cascade.
Mathias Heikenwälder, who leads a junior research group at the Helmholtz Center Munich, recently found out in a sensational research work how metastasizing cancer cells use an inflammatory molecule to exit the bloodstream and form metastases in distant tissues. In his publication, the biologist also showed ways to block the newly discovered inflammatory molecule to prevent metastasis. Mathias Heikenwälder was honored for his leading-edge research with numerous science awards and obtained one of the highly competitive starting grants from the European Research Council.
The Richtzenhain Prize, which DKFZ awards on behalf of a foundation established by neurologist Walther Richtzenhain and his wife Christine, is awarded annually, alternately to doctoral students at Heidelberg research institutes and, like this year, to scientists from across Germany for publications in the field of translational cancer research. This year’s prize is worth €10,000.
Dr. Matthias Eder, who is the winner of the Dr. Emil Salzer Prize, pursues research at the Division of Radiopharmaceutical Chemistry at DKFZ, where he also did his doctoral thesis. As a young postdoctoral fellow, the biotechnologist developed a substance which attaches specifically to a surface molecule of prostate cancer cells and can be made visible using positron electron tomography (PET). The new radiopharmaceutical substance has been clinically applied in individual cases and has convinced physicians: Even very small lymph node metastases can thus be made visible in PET imaging. It also facilitates early detection of cancer recurrence after treatment. Clinical trials are being prepared to approve the substance for use in PET diagnostics of prostate cancer and, thus, make it available for patients around the world.
The Dr. Emil Salzer Prize has been awarded by DKFZ on behalf of Baden-Wuerttemberg’s Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts since 1970. It was founded by Emil Salzer, a physician from Reutlingen, Germany. Salzer left his bequest to the State of Baden-Wuerttemberg under the condition that the proceeds be used for supporting cancer research. The prize money currently is €5,000.
The award ceremony will take place on Monday, January 14, 2013 at 4:30 p.m. as part of DKFZ’s annual alumni reception at the Communication Center (KOZ). Guests are very welcome to attend.
With more than 3,000 employees, the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ) is Germany’s largest biomedical research institute. DKFZ scientists identify cancer risk factors, investigate how cancer progresses and develop new cancer prevention strategies. They are also developing new methods to diagnose tumors more precisely and treat cancer patients more successfully. The DKFZ's Cancer Information Service (KID) provides patients, interested citizens and experts with individual answers to questions relating to cancer.
To transfer promising approaches from cancer research to the clinic and thus improve the prognosis of cancer patients, the DKFZ cooperates with excellent research institutions and university hospitals throughout Germany:
The DKFZ is 90 percent financed by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and 10 percent by the state of Baden-Württemberg. The DKFZ is a member of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centers.
