The Jung Foundation for Science and Research awards Matthias Tschöp with the Ernst Jung Prize for Medicine and honors his groundbreaking research on novel therapeutics for obesity and diabetes. The awards given by the Foundation rank among the highest of their category throughout Europe. Matthias Tschöp is CEO of Helmholtz Zentrum München.

The Ernst Jung Prize for Medicine is awarded to researchers who have contributed considerably to progress in human medicine with their projects and are also expected to do so in future. Matthias Tschöp started his research more than 20 years ago to develop improved therapeutic compounds against the metabolic diseases obesity and diabetes, which reached pandemic dimensions all over the world. Early in his career, he made a number of groundbreaking discoveries on the molecular communication between the gastrointestinal tract and the brain. These findings enabled him to develop novel drug candidates, including a distinct class of therapeutics called hormone polyagonists. Several such polyagonists are now successfully in phase II and III clinical trials and are considered one of the most promising approaches currently available to combat the common complex diseases obesity and type 2 diabetes.

“The Jung Foundation for Science and Research is known for its commitment to the advancement of human medicine on both a national and international level. My own journey has led me from medicine to science, from Germany into the world, and from the academic landscape to biotech and pharma and back again, ultimately learning that it is often at the intersections between these worlds where the transformative potential can be found,” says Tschöp. “The Ernst Jung Prize has always honored groundbreaking discoveries that have been made possible precisely at these intersections between medicine and science, between basic research and application. They include numerous examples, such as the work of Harald zur Hausen or Emmanuelle Charpentier, who are my inspiration and role models.”

Today, Matthias Tschöp is serving as the CEO of Helmholtz Zentrum München. His strategic vision is centered on the transformative acceleration of the path from basic research breakthroughs to delivering medical solutions for a healthier society. This includes the development of new transformative assets for prevention, personalized therapeutics, diagnostics as well as medical devices. Special emphasis is placed on drug discovery and development as an activity across all research fields of Helmholtz Zentrum München covering new small molecules, biologics, vaccines as well as immune, gene and cell therapies.

Next to Matthias Tschöp, the Jung Foundation for Science and Research also awarded Christian Hertweck (Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology - Hans Knöll Institute) with the Ernst Jung Prize for Medicine. Learn more about the Foundation and award: https://jung-stiftung.de/en/home/

Helmholtz Zentrum München
The Helmholtz Zentrum München, the German Research Center for Environmental Health, pursues the goal of developing personalized medical approaches for the prevention and therapy of major common diseases such as diabetes, allergies and lung diseases. To achieve this, it investigates the interaction of genetics, environmental factors and lifestyle. The Helmholtz Zentrum München is headquartered in Neuherberg in the north of Munich and has about 2,300 staff members. It is a member of the Helmholtz Association, a community of 18 scientific-technical and medical-biological research centers with a total of about 37,000 staff members. www.helmholtz-muenchen.de/en