Research

The Jakob Herz Prize was awarded for the seventh time on Friday October 7, 2022. The prize is awarded together with the Research Foundation at Universitätsklinikum Erlangen every two years for outstanding scientific achievements from theoretical and clinical medicine. This year’s award winner Prof. Dr. Douglas F. Easton from Cambridge (England), received the Jakob Herz Prize in recognition of his breakthroughs in breast cancer research.

Prof. Dr. Arnd Dörfler has been nominated for the Deutscher Zukunftspreis 2019. The nomination recognizes the scientists’ pioneering achievements in the field of research and development. Their success in developing the first ultra high field MRI scanner approved for clinical use is a global breakthrough for precision medicine.

FAU and the Faculty of Medicine welcome another Humboldt award winner to its midst: Biochemist Prof. Berezovski from the University of Ottawa has received the Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award and is using the award to continue his research on so-called ‘synthetic antibodies’ at the Department of Dermatology.

We still do not know exactly what causes chronic inflammatory joint diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis. A team at the Department of Medicine 3 has now chosen a new approach to gain a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms.

They form a protective sheath around nerve fibres and ensure that nerve impulses are transmitted rapidly: Schwann cells. Dr. Fröb and Prof. Wegner of the Institute of Biochemistry have been researching these cells for years now.

The international project PRECODE, coordinated by the Department of Surgery, focuses on establishing new models for treating pancreatic cancer in clinical settings. The project has received four million euros in funding from the EU.

Cells in the immune system known as phagocytes protect us against infections caused by various microorganisms and also help to ensure that damaged tissue is repaired.

Immune therapy is considered a milestone in the battle against metastasized malignant melanoma. However, these treatments do not work effectively for every patient. Members of the Faculty of Medicine conduct a study to develop new treatment methods in cooperation with external partners. The Stiftung Deutsche Krebshilfe is funding this study.

As the smallest living unit, a cell can survive alone, but not in a cluster. When the oldest known human being died at the age of 122, some cells in her body had reached the same age, others were replaced after just 60 hours. And yet they all behaved according to plan.