(Vienna, 06-09-2023) In recognition of their work on research into movement control in the human spinal cord, Ursula Hofstötter and Karen Minassian from MedUni Vienna's Centre for Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering have been awarded the DSQ - German Spinal Cord Paralysis Foundation's 2023 Research Prize.
The DSQ - Deutsche Stiftung Querschnittlähmung (German Foundation for Paraplegia), established in Stuttgart in 1990, is a non-profit foundation whose goal is to comprehensively improve the lives of people with paraplegia - from treatment and rehabilitation to integration in all areas of social life. The DSQ is actively supported in achieving this goal by the commitment of leading personalities from politics, science, medicine and business.
An essential aspect of the DSQ's work is the promotion of scientific research. At regular intervals, the Foundation awards one of the most highly endowed research prizes in Germany to scientists whose work makes a significant contribution to the Foundation's goal.
This year, the research duo Ursula Hofstötter and Karen Minassian from the Centre for Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering at MedUni Vienna were selected as the winners. The two receive the prize in recognition of their work on research into movement control in the human spinal cord. The duo also uses the basic scientific findings of their research to develop new rehabilitation strategies that can decisively improve motor functions and thus the quality of life of those affected, and which are now being applied internationally in clinical research.
As the first representatives of an Austrian research institution, Ursula Hofstötter and Karen Minassian now join a list of renowned prize winners from Germany and Switzerland, including researchers from the Balgrist University Hospital in Zurich, the Orthopaedic University Hospital Foundation in Heidelberg and the universities of Aachen, Hamburg, Kiel and Ulm.