Stefan Jentsch was posthumously awarded the Otto Warburg Medal on September 25. The German Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (Gesellschaft für Biochemie und Molekularbiologie, GBM) and its partners Elsevier and Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) posthumously award the renowned cell biologist for his research on the importance of the protein Ubiquitin. Jentsch had died in October 2016 at the age of 61. Shortly before, he learned about the award. Wolfgang Baumeister, Director of the department „Structural Biology“ at the MPI of Biochemistry and colleague of Jentsch: “The Otto-Warburg-Medal is the highest award in biochemistry in this country. I remember very well, he was truly excited when he got the information.” Since 1998, Stefan Jentsch has been a Scientific Member and Director of the Molecular Cell Biology Department at the MPI of Biochemistry in Martinsried.
f.l.t.r. Prof. Dr. Michael Rape, Prof. Dr. Thorsten Hoppe, Prof. Dr. Thomas Sommer, Prof. Johannes Herrmann, Prof. Thomas Jentsch, Petra Ullrich (Elsevier), Andrea O`Brien (Elsevier/BBA) und Dr. Ulrich Brandt (BBA)
Photo: Volker Wiciok
f.l.t.r. Prof. Dr. Michael Rape, Prof. Dr. Thorsten Hoppe, Prof. Dr. Thomas Sommer, Prof. Johannes Herrmann, Prof. Thomas Jentsch, Petra Ullrich (Elsevier), Andrea O`Brien (Elsevier/BBA) und Dr. Ulrich Brandt (BBA)
Photo: Volker Wiciok
Here, he discovered that modification of proteins with the small protein ubiquitin does not only promote protein degradation, but also fulfils many additional essential functions in cellular regulation. Prof. Thomas Jentsch, brother of the deceased, accepted the medal during the award ceremony in Bochum. The prize money of 25,000 Euro which the Otto-Warburg-Medal is endowed with, has been donated to “Doctors without borders”.
- The press release of the GBM and a video you find here. - You can find the obituary for Stefan Jentsch here. - Further information on the research of Stefan Jentsch and the Memorial Symposium on October 17, 2017 at the MPI for Biochemistry can be found here.
Petra Schwille, Director at the Max Planck Institute (MPI) of Biochemistry in Martinsried, together with Bert Poolman, Professor of Biochemistry at the University Groningen, Netherlands, receives an ERC Synergy Grant for the MetaDivide project.
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AI researcher Jenna Wiens from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, USA, receives Carl Friedrich von Siemens Research Award of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and spends a research semester in Martinsried.
The Leopoldina honors Franz-Ulrich Hartl, Director at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, with the Schleiden Medal for his contributions to the understanding of cellular protein folding.
The 2023 Louis-Jeantet Prize for Medicine is awarded jointly to Brenda Schulman and Ivan Ðikić, for their outstanding contributions to the ubiquitin research field.
Petra Schwille, Director at the MPI of Biochemistry in Martinsried, is awarded the Otto Warburg Medal 2021 in recognition of her outstanding research work.
Elena Conti and F. Ulrich Hartl, directors at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Martinsried each receive an ERC grant worth 2.1 million euros.
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