At the European Association for the Study of Diabetes annual meeting (September 19-23 in Stockholm), several researchers from the German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD) are to be recognized. This year’s EASD–Novo Nordisk Foundation Diabetes Prize for Excellence will be awarded to Dr. Anette-Gabriele Ziegler, director at the Institute of Diabetes Research, Helmholtz Munich (IDF) and DZD researcher. She is working on the early detection and prevention of type 1 diabetes.

Type 1 diabetes is the most common metabolic disease in children and adolescents worldwide. The aim of Anette Ziegler’s research is to understand the pathogenesis of the this autoimmune disease and to develop preventive treatment methods. Her vision is a world without type 1 diabetes.

To achieve this aim, Prof. Ziegler has already made vital contributions to the field of diabetes research during her exceptional academic career. She initiated the world’s first birth cohort study for diabetes, BABYDIAB, which produced groundbreaking insights into the early-stage development of islet autoantibodies during the first year of life. It was discovered that insulin is the first target of the autoantibodies. She also heads the TEDDY study in Germany (The Environmental Determinants of Diabetes in the Young), an international study to identify the triggers of childhood diabetes. The Fr1da study, also initiated by Prof. Ziegler, is the first population-based early detection study for type 1 diabetes in children. Furthermore, she is one of the co-founders of the Global Platform for the Prevention of Autoimmune Diabetes (GPPAD). The platform carries out population-based newborn screening in several European countries to help identify infants at genetic risk of developing type 1 diabetes and offer participation in the study to prevent onset of the disease. Prof. Ziegler also helped found and coordinate a research academy at the DZD investigating the prevention and pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes.

The EASD–Novo Nordisk Foundation Diabetes Prize for Excellence is awarded by the European Association for the Study of Diabetes together with the Novo Nordisk Foundation and endowed with €800,000. The award ceremony will take place on September 21. Under the motto “Starting the clock to type 1 diabetes”, Anette-Gabriele Ziegler will give insights into type 1 diabetes prevention research.

2022 Minkowski Prize for Martin Heni
The long-standing DZD researcher Prof. Dr. med. Martin Heni has been awarded the 2022 Minkowski Prize for his exceptional research into the insulin-resistant brain and its impact on whole-body metabolism and body fat distribution. Current studies show that the brain plays a crucial role in the onset of type 2 diabetes and obesity. In his work, Heni was able to prove that fat distribution in the body and the impact of insulin depend on the insulin sensitivity of the brain, among other things. During his Minkowski Lecture “The insulin-resistant brain: impact on whole-body metabolism and body fat distribution” at the EASD Annual Meeting, he will present his research findings, among other things (September 22).

Matthias Tschöp Awarded the EASD-Lilly Centennial Anniversary Prize
Prof. Dr. med. Dr. h.c. Matthias Tschöp, Scientific Director of Helmholtz Center Munich and DZD researcher, is the recipient of the EASD-Lilly Centennial Anniversary Prize, which is being awarded for the first time in 2022. The prize recognizes the work of individual researchers who have made a significant contribution to the development of diabetes and obesity treatment and management. Poly-agonists mimic the effects of several types of hormones at the same time. In the USA, a dual-agonist drug has already been approved this year for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. On September 22, in his award lecture, he will present “Dual and triple gut horme co-agonist: from discovery to approval”.

Olga Ramich Awarded the Morgagni Prize
The head of the research group Molecular Nutritional Medicine at the German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbrücke (DIfE), a DZD partner, will be recognized with the EASD Morgagni Prize. Ramich researches the effects of the circadian clock on the nutrition-related regulation of metabolism and the pathogenies of obesity and diabetes. The EASD Morgagni Prize is awarded every two years to young scientists working in the fields of clinical research, clinical physiology, and metabolism, who are EASD members and working at a research institute in Europe. The award will be handed over on September 21 at the EASD Annual Meeting.