idw – Informationsdienst Wissenschaft
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
HZI and Technische Universität Braunschweig honour specialist for marine natural products
Many active substances used in medicine are based on naturally occurring products. However, the producers of these substances often do not grow or grow poorly under laboratory conditions. This also applies to marine invertebrates such as sponges, which live in close association with bacteria. Aided by synthetic biology, complex natural substances can also be engineered in the laboratory independently from their natural producers. For the scientific work on natural products from marine sources, the Friends of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig and the Technische Universität Braunschweig are awarding Prof Jörn Piel from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich, Switzerland, the Inhoffen Medal 2023. The award ceremony took place on 8 June 2023 at the HZI in Braunschweig.
The research group of Inhoffen Medal 2023 winner Prof Jörn Piel investigates how structurally complex natural products are produced. “Prof Jörn Piel is an outstanding scientist who has done ground-breaking work on microbial natural products research. His molecular biology-based work, for example on uncultured bacteria, opens up new areas of research that have received and are continuing to receive great attention worldwide”, says laudator Prof Stefan Schulz from the Institute for Organic Chemistry at the Technische Universität Braunschweig about the awardee.
Jörn Piel studied chemistry at the University of Bonn and received his doctorate there in 1998. He then conducted research at the University of Washington, USA, and led research groups at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena and at University of Bonn. Since 2013, Piel has headed the “Bacterial Natural Products” group at the Institute of Microbiology at ETH Zurich.
The Inhoffen Prize, awarded by the Friends of HZI and endowed with 8000 euros, is considered the most prestigious German award in the field of natural products chemistry. It is awarded as part of the Inhoffen Lecture, a joint ceremony of the HZI, the Technische Universität Braunschweig and the Friends of HZI.
During the ceremony, the Friends of HZI also awarded three PhD awards to young scientists at the HZI. Dr Alaa Alhayek (HZI site Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS)), Dr Chunlei Jiao (HZI site Helmholtz Institute for RNA-based Infection Research (HIRI)) and Dr Bernard C. Silenou (HZI site Braunschweig) were honoured for their doctorates completed in 2022. The HIPS and the HIRI are sites of the HZI in cooperation with Saarland University and Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, respectively.
You can find the press release on our homepage under the link https://www.helmholtz-hzi.de/en/news-events/news/view/article/complete/chemiker-....
About the Inhoffen Medal:
To commemorate the chemist Prof Hans Herloff Inhoffen (deceased in 1992), the Technische Universität Braunschweig, the HZI (formerly: German Research Centre for Biotechnology (Gesellschaft für Biotechnologische Forschung or GBF)) and the Friends of HZI annually organise the Inhoffen Lecture (since 1994) at which the award bearing his name is presented. Inhoffen taught at the Technische Universität Braunschweig from 1946 to 1974 and served as its Rector from 1948 to 1950. Moreover, in 1965, he founded the “Institute for Molecular Biology, Biochemistry and Biophysics” (IMB), the predecessor institution of the GBF and, by extension, of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research.
Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research:
Scientists at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig and other locations in Germany study bacterial and viral infections and the body's defense mechanisms. They have in-depth expertise in natural products research and their use as a valuable source of novel anti-infectives. As a member of the Helmholtz Association and the German Centre for Infection Research (DZIF), the HZI conducts translational research to lay the foundations for the development of novel therapies and vaccines against infectious diseases. https://www.helmholtz-hzi.de/en
Technische Universität Braunschweig
With its 17,000 students and 3,800 employees, Technische Universität Braunschweig stands for strategic and performance-oriented thinking and practice, relevant research, dedication to teaching and the successful transfer of knowledge and technologies to business and society. The core research areas are mobility, engineering for health, metrology and future city. Strong engineering sciences and natural sciences form the core disciplines. These are closely networked with economics, social sciences, humanities and educational sciences. In research, but also in teaching, administration and transfer activities, TU Braunschweig focuses on the consistent integration of the cross-cutting issues of digitalisation, internationalisation, equality, diversity and sustainability, as well as on participatory knowledge transfer to communicate with society. The campus is located in the middle of one of the most research-intensive regions in Europe. We work just as successfully with the more than 20 research institutions in our neighbourhood as with our international partner universities and cooperation partners. https://www.tu-braunschweig.de/en/
Contact:
Susanne Thiele, Spokesperson
susanne.thiele@helmholtz-hzi.de
Dr Charlotte Schwenner, Science Editor
charlotte.schwenner@helmholtz-hzi.de
Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research
Press and Communication
Inhoffenstraße 7
D-38124 Braunschweig
phone: +49 531 6181-1400; -1406
Awarding of the Inhoffen Medal 2023: (left to right) Laudator Prof Stefan Schulz, Awardee Prof Jörn ...
Verena Meier
©HZI/Verena Meier
Merkmale dieser Pressemitteilung:
Journalisten, Wissenschaftler
Biologie, Chemie, Medizin
überregional
Wettbewerbe / Auszeichnungen
Englisch
Awarding of the Inhoffen Medal 2023: (left to right) Laudator Prof Stefan Schulz, Awardee Prof Jörn ...
Verena Meier
©HZI/Verena Meier
Sie können Suchbegriffe mit und, oder und / oder nicht verknüpfen, z. B. Philo nicht logie.
Verknüpfungen können Sie mit Klammern voneinander trennen, z. B. (Philo nicht logie) oder (Psycho und logie).
Zusammenhängende Worte werden als Wortgruppe gesucht, wenn Sie sie in Anführungsstriche setzen, z. B. „Bundesrepublik Deutschland“.
Die Erweiterte Suche können Sie auch nutzen, ohne Suchbegriffe einzugeben. Sie orientiert sich dann an den Kriterien, die Sie ausgewählt haben (z. B. nach dem Land oder dem Sachgebiet).
Haben Sie in einer Kategorie kein Kriterium ausgewählt, wird die gesamte Kategorie durchsucht (z.B. alle Sachgebiete oder alle Länder).
