2024 German Society for Immunology Prizes

Abstract

Every year, the German Society for Immunology (DGfI) awards PhD and Early Career Prizes to young scientists who have made an outstanding contribution to the field of immunology. The award ceremony took place online on October 14, 2024, during the General Assembly of the German Society for Immunology. This year the board members of the Young Immunologists (YI) of the DGfI organized the interviews.

Otto-Westphal Thesis Prize

Dr. Joans Schulte-Schrepping received the Otto-Westphal Thesis Prize 2024 for his outstanding work on understanding the systemic immune response to COVID-19.

The German Society for Immunology e.V. (DGfI) annually awards the Otto-Westphal Thesis Prize to one of its members. The prize is awarded for the best dissertation on the subject of immunology that was successfully completed in a German-speaking country during the last calendar year (as determined by the date of the oral exam). Self-nomination and nomination by others is possible. The prize carries a prize money of 1500 EUR.

The prize is named after Prof. Dr. Otto Westphal (1913–2004), founding director of the Max-Planck-Institute for Immunobiology in Freiburg as well as founding member and long-standing president (1967–1976) of the German Society for Immunology e.V. as a chemist Otto Westphal was particularly interested in the structure and function of bacterial cell wall components. He is especially noted for his ground-breaking work on the elucidation of the endotoxic function of lipopolysaccharides. He also characterized numerous antigens from Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria using immunochemical methods.

With the kind support of Biotest AG.

How does this prize affect your future?

This prize means a lot to me as recognition for the last six years of my work. It gives me extra motivation to keep going and reinforces my confidence in my scientific ideas.

How did you decide which research area is the right one for you?

During my studies, I explored many different fields and environments. The University of Bonn, especially the LIMES Institute, offered a lot of opportunities to gain experience both inside and outside the university. In the end, it wasn't an easy decision, but I chose the field (and lab) where I felt I could do state-of-the-art immunological research with clinical impact, challenge myself and learn a lot, and have the freedom and trust to explore my own ideas.

What inspired you to become a scientist?

I don't come from an academic family, so I started out quite naïve and didn't really know much about science. More or less by coincidence, I attended a lecture on biomedicine during an open day at the University of Essen, which turned out to be very influential. I was really excited to learn more about how the body works and how we can help it when things go wrong. From that point on, I was very lucky to get into the Molecular Biomedicine program in Bonn, where I've had great mentors and friends to guide me through this journey to become a scientist.

Did you change your research area since you applied for the prize?

My main focus hasn't changed. I am still working on bringing state-of-the-art research technologies closer to patients, applying high-resolution technologies to clinical cohorts of inflammatory and infectious diseases and improve how we can make best use of this complex clinical data without compromising data privacy. In addition, I am now also expanding my skills by exploring naturalized model systems and genomic perturbation techniques for complementary in-depth mechanistic studies.

What are the next steps for your future?

I plan to develop my own research direction, advance my skills in teaching and mentoring, and continue enjoying science.

What advice would you give young scientists?

I'm not sure I'm in a position to give advice just yet, but looking back at my PhD, I'm glad that in most cases, be it consciously or unconsciously, I followed my curiosity and excitement when choosing which projects to work on. But I was also very lucky to have plenty of opportunities to explore different projects and the freedom to pursue my own ideas and hypotheses. If you are as lucky as I was, trust your instincts and let your curiosity guide you!

Fritz-and-Ursula-Melchers Postdoctoral Prize

Dr. med. Benjamin Ruf received the 2024 Fritz-and-Ursula-Melchers Postdoctoral Prize for his research about the role of mucosa-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells in anti-tumour immune responses.

The German Society for Immunology (DGfI) annually awards the Fritz-und-Ursula-Melchers Postdoctoral Prize to one of its members. The prize is awarded to postdocs (up to 35 years of age) for their achievements in the field of immunology. The prize carries a prize money of 1,500 EUR, which is donated by Fritz and Ursula Melchers. Fritz Melchers was longstanding director of the “Basel Institute for Immunology” and is a founding and honorary member of the German Society for Immunology e.V. He is particularly noted for his groundbreaking research, which was critical for our understanding of the maturation of antibody-secreting B lymphocytes.

How does this prize affect your future?

The Fritz-und-Ursula-Melchers Postdoc Award from the German Association of Immunologists (DGfI) is a fantastic recognition of our previous work on understanding tumor immunology in gastrointestinal cancers. I specifically say “our” work because this represents a culmination of support from current and previous mentors, colleagues, and students with whom I have been fortunate to work with. It serves as an inspiration to continue our studies on how we can harness our body's own immune system to treat cancer.

How did you decide, which research area is the right one for you?

During medical school, I recognized the unmet clinical need to improve care and treatment options for patients with cancer and how challenging it can be to treat advanced disease stages. I became fascinated by innovative treatment strategies, such as oncolytic virotherapy and cancer immunotherapy. Ever since, I have been curious about the intricate interplay between tumor cells, stromal cells, and various immune cell subsets, and how we could reverse these mechanisms of immune evasion by tumors to unleash the power of innate and adaptive immunity in the fight against malignant tumors.

What inspired you to become a scientist?

Back in medical school and during my doctoral thesis project, I learned how exciting it is to conduct experiments in the lab, plot data, analyze findings, troubleshoot, and repeat the process. You might even end up with something unique, perhaps discovering something that nobody has seen before. Even if it's just a small and seemingly insignificant finding, it can be novel and creative. As a clinician-scientist, I aim to bring together my two passions: science and practicing medicine. This combination allows me to advance our field and explore new avenues to ultimately improve patient care.

Did you change your research area since you applied for the prize?

Absolutely not! Why would I stop studying the most interesting immune cell in the body (MAIT cells, fyi)?

What are the next steps for your future?

After four years of postdoctoral work at the U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI), I have recently begun establishing a research group at the newly constructed M3 Research Center for Malignancy, Microbiome, and Metabolome at the University of Tübingen. The M3 institute and the scientific environment in Tübingen offer exceptional conditions for this endeavor, and I am excited to collaborate with numerous inspiring scientists both in Germany and internationally. Upon returning to Tübingen, I have also resumed my clinical training, continuing my residency in Internal Medicine with a specialization in Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Gastrointestinal Cancers.

Which advice would you give young scientists?

Find a field of research that excites you more than anything else, something that sparks your interest, and follow your curiosity. For me, finding mentors and colleagues who support my research has been essential. Beyond science, having support from friends and family is crucial, especially when experiments don't go as planned.

Herbert-Fischer Prize for Neuroimmunology

The Herbert-Fischer Prize for Neuroimmunology 2024 was awarded to Dr. rer. nat. Michael Kilian for his valuable work on T helper cells for personalized cell therapy in gliomas.

The German Society for Immunology annually awards the Herbert-Fischer Prize for Neuroimmunology to one of its members. It is awarded to doctoral students and junior postdocs for their achievements in the field of neuroimmunology. The prize carries a prize money of 1500 EUR. It is named after the former director (1964–1981) of the Max Planck Institute for Immunobiology. Herbert Fischer was a pioneer in the area of systems immunology. He recognized the importance of the cellular environment on the immune response and was particularly interested in the interaction between macrophages and lymphocytes, which he elucidated by using innovative techniques such as chemiluminescence and microcinematography.

Donor of this prize is the Rosa Laura and Hartmut Wekerle Foundation.

How does this prize affect your future?

I hope this prize will help to increase visibility for my research and brain tumor immunology in general. I hope that it will also be my first step and exposure as a young member of the German immunology community.

How did you decide, which research area is the right one for you?

I was excited by the early successes of applied tumor immunology in patients that I was able to witness firsthand during my studies. A research internship at MSKCC convinced me that I find tumor immunology most exciting and that I would like to contribute to its progress with my own research.

What inspired you to become a scientist?

There is not a single thing in particular that made me want to become a scientist. Rather, I was always excited by all the signs of modern science in daily life and learning something new about how nature works.

Did you change your research area since you applied for the prize?

In my PhD, I worked on the immune-tumor-microenvironment of brain cancers like glioblastoma and how to use novel discoveries and concepts to improve cell therapy against these deadly tumors. I recently also started working on autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis, aiming to establish novel technologies to study immune cell interactions in the CNS. Thus, I have expanded my original field of research, but my overall focus remains on investigating immune cell interactions in the central nervous system and how to use this knowledge to design novel therapeutics.

What are the next steps for your future?

I am currently pursuing my postdoctoral research in the lab of Francisco Quintana at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston. In the long term, I hope to be able to establish my own neuroimmunology research group and continue to investigate the complex dynamics between the immune and central nervous systems.

Which advice would you give young scientists?

Follow your curiosity and be open to gather scientific and methodological experiences from all over the world. And immunology is fun!

Georges-Köhler Prize

The 2024 Georges-Köhler Prize was awarded to Dr. rer. nat. Jan Böttcher, who received the prize for his outstanding work on anti-cancer immunity in the tumor microenvironment.

The Georges-Köhler Prize is awarded annually to scientists whose research has made a significant contribution to the understanding of the immune system or who have created applications resulting from their outstanding research. Applicants should have established themselves as group leaders (with at least one last author publication) and received third-party funds. The prize carries a prize money of 3000 EUR. It is named after Prof. Dr. Georges Jean Franz Köhler (1946–1995), Nobel Prize winner for physiology or medicine (1984) (with César Milstein und Niels K. Jerne for the discovery of the principal for the generation of monoclonal antibodies) and former director of the Max-Planck Institute of Immunobiology, Freiburg.

With the kind support of Biotest AG.

How does this prize affect your future?

I feel very honored to receive this year's Georges-Köhler-Prize as recognition for the research efforts me and my team have conducted in the past years. It serves as a great motivation for the whole team to continue pursuing unanswered questions in cancer immunology and to try to understand the fundamental principles of immunity in tumors and diseased tissues. Hopefully, this prize will motivate some talented young researches to join our team and advance this work.

How did you decide, which research area is the right one for you?

To be honest, this was more a curiosity-driven process than a deliberate decision. Early in my career, I became captivated by the fascinating ability of the immune system to detect pathogenic infections, appropriately deal with these infections and restore homeostasis, as well as the development of immunological memory. I was then drawn to understanding what happens in situations when immunity fails and becomes dysfunctional, for example, in chronic infections and cancer. We are far from a complete understanding of the mechanisms that shape immune responses in these situations, which is a constant motivation to continue our work in this research area.

Similarly, a curiosity-driven approach applies to our lab's everyday work and guides most of our research projects. This sometimes leads to very unexpected findings, which can result in projects taking a completely different path than originally anticipated. This is as challenging as it is exciting—and so far, has led to some amazing discoveries.

What inspired you to become a scientist?

My inspiration to become a scientist came from a deep curiosity about nature, wondering how it works, how diseases develop, and how scientific discoveries can fundamentally impact human lives and improve patient outcomes. I thoroughly enjoy working together with other researchers, applying creative thinking to generate new knowledge and thereby help improve patients’ lives—which to me is one of the most meaningful tasks I can imagine.

Did you change your research area since you applied for the prize?

Not substantially. But one of the larger current developments is the integration of new methodologies from other research areas into our work—the most prominent being artificial intelligence approaches to study immune networks in tissues. I am very excited to find out where this takes us in the future.

What are the next steps for your future?

My recent research activities have raised many interesting questions about the mechanisms and underlying principles that determine and shape immunity in cancer tissues and organs. We have now started to address some of these questions and hope to expand these studies in the future, as well as to continue the translation of our findings to human patients. It would be fantastic to find the optimal position for this work in the not-too-distant future, for example, a professorship at one of the many excellent German universities with a cancer immunology focus.

Which advice would you give young scientists?

If you aim to pursue a career in science: Ask yourself if you are passionate about asking questions and trying to find answers, willing to work hard, and can find the resilience to deal with failure—which you will most likely have to do much more than you imagine at the beginning of your career!