(Berlin, March 17, 2023) – Jürgen A. Knoblich and his team have received the Alfred Hauptmann Prize in the basic research category. The prize was awarded during the joint epilepsy conference of the German, Austrian and Swiss Societies for Epileptology in Berlin.
The Alfred Hauptmann Prize was awarded in two categories for the first time this year. The award in the Basic Research category went to Jürgen A. Knoblich, Interim Scientific Director of the Institute for Molecular Biotechnology (IMBA) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and Professor of Synthetic Biology at MedUni Vienna, and his researchers Nina S. Corsini and Oliver L. Eichmuller.
The team was awarded for the study "Amplification of human interneuron progenitors promotes brain tumors and neurological defects". With the help of cerebral organoids, the researchers were able to recreate the characteristic features of tuberous sclerosis and thus elucidate the history of this genetic form of epilepsy. This innovative technology opens up opportunities for new therapy options.
About the Alfred Hauptmann Prizes
The Alfred Hauptmann Prize is awarded every two years and is named after the German neurologist Alfred Hauptmann, who had to emigrate from Germany in 1933. The prize is aimed at researchers from German-speaking countries who have published an outstanding scientific work on epileptology in the past two years. It is advertised in the categories of basic research and clinical research.