“The five awards reflect the breadth and strength of the scientific work conducted at the DDZ—from basic research and clinical precision diabetology to science communication. Our scientists do not only gain new insights into the development and treatment of diabetes, but also consistently translate these findings into clinical practice and communicate them to the wider public. That is precisely the goal of the DDZ,” emphasizes Prof. Michael Roden, Scientific Director and Spokesman of the Board of the DDZ as well as Director of the Clinic for Endocrinology and Diabetology at the University Hospital Düsseldorf (UKD).
DDG Ernst Friedrich Pfeiffer Prize for Dr. med. habil. Oana-Patricia Zaharia
Physician and scientist Dr. med. habil. Oana-Patricia Zaharia received the 2026 Ernst Friedrich Pfeiffer Prize from the German Diabetes Association (DDG). The prize recognizes her research work on the improved characterization of individual metabolic profiles and the development of personalized prevention and therapeutic approaches for diabetes. Zaharia is a researcher at the Institute for Clinical Diabetology at the DDZ and a senior physician at the Clinic for Endocrinology and Diabetology at the University Hospital Düsseldorf (UKD). The Ernst Friedrich Pfeiffer Prize honors young researchers for pioneering scientific work on the development and treatment of diabetes.
DDG Promotion Prize for Dr. Tim Mori
Dr. Tim Mori, research associate at the Institute for Biometrics and Epidemiology at the German Diabetes Center (DDZ), was awarded the DDG Promotion Prize for his dissertation “Diabetes-Subtypen für die Präzisionsmedizin – von der praktischen Umsetzung zu methodischen Herausforderungen” (Diabetes Subtypes for Precision Medicine—from Practical Implementation to Methodological Challenges). As part of his doctorate, he developed the DDZ Diabetes-Cluster-Tool, the first user-friendly software application for assigning people with diabetes to clinically relevant subtypes for routine clinical practice. Additionally, he proposed an established statistical measure that improves the reliability of the classification into subtypes.
DZD Outstanding Young Investigator Award for Dr. Martin Schön
Dr. Martin Schön, research physician at the Institute for Clinical Diabetology at the DDZ and resident physician at the Clinic for Endocrinology and Diabetology at the University Hospital Düsseldorf (UKD), was presented with the DZD Outstanding Young Investigator Award. He is researching the role of HbA1c in diabetes subtyping: Since long-term blood glucose levels are significantly influenced by treatment and disease duration, they primarily reflect the current level of blood glucose control—and less so the underlying disease mechanism. His results show that excluding HbA1c from the clustering algorithm improves detection of the severe insulin-deficient diabetes (SIDD) subtype and helps to predict declining endogenous insulin production and diabetic retinopathy—though HbA1c remains essential for diabetes management.
DZD Outstanding Young Investigator Award for Sebastian Sill
Sebastian Sill, PhD student at the Institute for Clinical Biochemistry and Pathobiochemistry at the DDZ, also received the DZD Outstanding Young Investigator Award. Sill is researching the role of magnesium and thiamine in the development of diabetic neuropathy: A combined deficiency of both biofactors increases nerve damage, while supplementation in excess of normal requirements does not measurably improve an existing neuropathy. Further research is needed to determine who could actually benefit from targeted deficiency correction and whether earlier interventions would be more effective.
DZD NEXT Science Communicator Award for Maximilian Huttasch
Maximilian Huttasch, research physician at the Institute for Clinical Diabetology at the DDZ, received the DZD NEXT Science Communicator Award for his dedication to combating health misinformation on social media. Since autumn 2024, he has been publishing evidence-based videos and posts on Instagram, TikTok, and other social media platforms to explain medical connections in an understandable way and debunk myths, with a focus on metabolism, obesity, and diabetes. In just over a year, his follower count grew to more than 250,000 in the German-speaking region. At the DDG Congress in May, he organized a dedicated session on the topic of health misinformation online together with other evidence-based content creators.
Media contact:
German Diabetes Center
PR
Susan Jörges
Auf'm Hennekamp 65
40225 Düsseldorf
Phone +49 (0)211 3382-450
pressestelle@ddz.de
The German Diabetes Center (DDZ) serves as the German reference center for diabetes. Its objective is to contribute to the improvement of prevention, early detection, diagnosis and treatment of diabetes mellitus. At the same time, the research center aims at improving the epidemiological data situation in Germany. The DDZ coordinates the multicenter German Diabetes Study and is a point of contact for all players in the health sector. In addition, it prepares scientific information on diabetes mellitus and makes it available to the public. The DDZ is part of the Leibniz Association (Wissenschaftsgemeinschaft Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, WGL) and is a partner of the German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD e.V.). www.ddz.de/en
The German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD) is a national association that brings together experts in the field of diabetes research and combines basic research, translational research, epidemiology and clinical applications. The aim is to develop novel strategies for personalized prevention and treatment of diabetes. Members are Helmholtz Munich – German Research Center for Environmental Health, the German Diabetes Center in Düsseldorf, the German Institute of Human Nutrition in Potsdam-Rehbrücke, the Paul Langerhans Institute Dresden of Helmholtz Munich at the University Medical Center Carl Gustav Carus of the TU Dresden and the Institute for Diabetes Research and Metabolic Diseases of Helmholtz Munich at the Eberhard-Karls-University of Tuebingen together with associated partners at the Universities in Heidelberg, Cologne, Leipzig, Lübeck and Munich. www.dzd-ev.de/en
