MDC Berlin

Ernst Jung Prize for Medicine 2019 goes to Professor Gary R. Lewin from the MDC

The cellular biologist Thomas Sommer, who is the interim Scientific Director of the MDC, is celebrating his 60th birthday on May 23. We congratulate him on this milestone.

Gudrun Erzgräber has worked many years on the Campus Buch, as a researcher and as a manager. She was present when the MDC was founded and managed the BiotechPark Berlin-Buch. Today she is 80 years old. We congratulate her.

This summer, the MDC is starting a new program called ASPIRE. It aims to help postdocs at the Center forge their own career path. Anyone interested in learning more about the one-year training program can attend an information session on May 21 from 10 a.m. to 12 noon.

What comes after my PhD, and how will my title help me? Not just at the MDC, young researchers are asking this question. The Career Day offers them opportunities to receive inspiration and pointers for their career planning.

The Scientific Director of the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC), Professor Martin Lohse, is resigning from his office in full agreement with the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) in order to devote more time to his scientific work. The MDC is one of the world’s leading biomedical research institutions.

Although classical Hodgkin’s lymphoma is generally easily treatable today, many aspects of the disease still remain a mystery. A team at the MDC led by Professor Claus Scheidereit has now identified an important signaling molecule in the biology of this lymphoma: LTA. It helps the cancer to grow unimpeded – for example, by activating genes for immune checkpoint ligands that protect tumor cells from the body’s built-in defense system.

An international team of clinicians, geneticists and molecular biologists joined forces to hunt down the genetic source of leaky kidneys, a symptom of kidney damage and disease. This gene could be investigated further as a potential treatment target, according to a study recently published in “eLife”.

About 500 scientists, clinicians, patients, and stakeholders from 20 European countries and beyond have gathered in Berlin at the LifeTime Opening Conference. The pan-European initiative aims to revolutionize healthcare. It applies breakthrough technologies to the progression of human diseases and intends to find and implement new methods for personalized prevention, early diagnosis and treatment.

Anton Henssen specializes in rare tumors in children. As the new group leader at the Experimental and Clinical Research Center (ECRC), the physician hopes to contribute to ensuring that the knowledge gained in cancer research benefits patients as quickly as possible.