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DZD Scientist Receives Research Prize of the Dr. Günther and Imme Wille Foundation

Dr. Henrike Sell of the German Diabetes Center, a partner in the DZD, is this year’s prize recipient of the Dr. Günther and Imme Wille Foundation. The prize endowed with 10 000 euros is awarded by the Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf to young scientists for outstanding research in the field of translational medicine and related life sciences.

For her research on the topic “Adipose Dipeptidyl Peptidase-4 and Obesity”, Dr. Henrike Sell, deputy head of the Paul Langerhans Group for Integrative Physiology at the German Diabetes Center (DDZ) has received this year’s research prize of the Dr. Günther and Imme Wille Foundation. The award was presented personally by the donor Dr. h.c. Günter Wille at the annual meeting of the Association of Friends and Supporters of Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf. In his laudatory address Dr. Wille emphasized the significance of the German Diabetes Center as interdisciplinary research institution.
Dr. Sell explores the relationships between obesity, inflammation, muscular insulin resistance and dysfunctions of the blood vessels. The focus of her research is on factors such as the enzyme dipeptidyl peptidase-4, which is released from adipose tissue and which plays a key role in organ communication. In translational approaches that involve a study of human cell models, mouse models and clinical samples, mechanisms shall be elucidated that underlie the development of obesity-related metabolic diseases.
The Dr. Günther and Imme Wille Foundation awards an annual research prize endowed with
10 000 euros, to a young researcher of the Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf in recognition of his/her outstanding research in the field of translational medicine and related life sciences.