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Two DZD Scientists Honored at DDG Annual Meeting

At this year's annual meeting of the German Diabetes Association (DDG), two scientists of the German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD) were honored with the Ferdinand Bertram Award and the Ernst Friedrich Pfeiffer Award.

Priv.-Doz. Dr. Christian Herder, head of the research group “Inflammation” of the Institute for Clinical Diabetology at the German Diabetes Center in Düsseldorf, is recipient of the Ferdinand Bertram Award 2013 for his outstanding work on the mechanisms of development of type 2 diabetes. Herder is seeking to identify biomarkers in blood to enable early detection of an increased risk for diabetes. These findings will help elucidate the processes that lead to type 2 diabetes and aid in assessing individual disease risk. The Ferdinand Bertram Award is endowed with 20,000 euros and is sponsored by Roche Diagnostics GmbH. This year’s award goes in equal parts to Priv.-Doz. Dr. Christian Herder and Prof. Dr. Antje Körner from the Integrated Research and Treatment Center (IFB) AdiposityDiseases in Leipzig.


Dr. Stephan Speier, research group leader at the Paul Langerhans Institute Dresden (PLID) and the DFG Research Center for Regenerative Treatments Dresden (CRTD) and member of the Competence Network Diabetes Mellitus is recipient of this year’s Ernst Friedrich Pfeiffer Award, which is endowed with 10,000 euros. Stephan Speier explores the physiology of insulin-producing beta cells of the pancreas in order to elucidate their function and regeneration potential. The destruction and inadequate functioning of beta cells lead to type 1 and type 2 diabetes. The Ernst Friedrich Pfeiffer Award is conferred by Lilly Germany for scientific achievements in the field of type 1 diabetes.

Active in the German Center for Diabetes Research
The two award winners are actively involved in the German Center for Diabetes Research, in which basic research and clinical application are closely linked in terms of translational research. Furthermore, they belong to the Scientific Chair of the DZD Young Scientists’ Training & Education Program, which offers special courses and programs on diabetes research for young scientists. The highlight for 2013 is the first DZD Diabetes Research School, which will take place from November 5th to 9th in Barcelona. Internationally known diabetes researchers will discuss current topics of diabetes research with 50 young scientists. From November 7th to 9th the participants will attend the XII International Symposium on Insulin Receptors and Insulin Action (IR2013). Information about the program and registration is available at www.dzd-ev.de
Photos: deckbar / K.I.T. Group