Dr. Maren Carstensen-Kirberg, a young researcher at the German Diabetes Center Düsseldorf (DDZ) is this year’s recipient of the MTZ Award, which is endowed with € 2,500, of the University of Düsseldorf. Professor Anja Steinbeck, rector of the University of Düsseldorf, presented the award to the prizewinner.
Dr. Carstensen-Kirberg’s main research interest is the identification of novel inflammatory proteins that play a role in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes and indicate an altered diabetes risk. In large epidemiological studies she investigates how inflammatory proteins in the blood affect the risk for developing type 2 diabetes. Furthermore, she explores the influence of these biomarkers on inflammatory reactions and on the glucose metabolism on the cellular level.
Dr. Carstensen-Kirberg studied biology from 2003 to 2008 at the University of Tübingen and the University of Würzburg. In 2008 she completed her diploma thesis at BASF SE in Limburgerhof and completed her doctorate in 2012 in the Inflammation Research Group under the supervision of PD Dr. Christian Herder at the German Diabetes Center Düsseldorf (DDZ). Since then Dr. Carstensen-Kirberg has been a postdoc at the German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD e.V.) at the DDZ. In 2013 she received the doctoral award of the Anna Wunderlich-Ernst Jühling Foundation and was also a two-time recipient of the DZD award for outstanding presentations of research results at international diabetes congresses.
The MTZ Foundation confers the MTZ Award, which is endowed with € 2,500, to young researchers of the Medical Faculty of the University of Düsseldorf or of the affiliated Helmholtz Forschungszentrum Jülich, the German Diabetes Center (DDZ), or the Institute for Environmental Medical Research. With this award, outstanding publications in the field of medically oriented cellular or genetic research are honored. Thomas Geisel, mayor of the city of Düsseldorf is patron of the award.