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Jühling Prizes and Jühling Medal 2011

Awards for Research on Novel Adipokine Hormone and on the Relationship between Environmental Factors and Diabetes

On November 30, 2011 the Jühling Prizes and the Jühling Medal were awarded for outstanding scientific work in the field of diabetes research. This year, the awards recognized research on the significance of a novel adipokine hormone and on environmental factors in the development of type 2 diabetes.

Professor Markku Laakso of the University of Kuopio (Finland) held the Jühling Lecture 2011 and was awarded the Jühling Medal. In his lecture Professor Laakso focused on the genetic factors that play a role in the development of type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance.

The prize winners of the Jühling Prize, which is endowed with 5000 euros, are Dr. Henrike Sell, deputy director of the Paul Langerhans Group at the German Diabetes Centre (DDZ), a partner of the German Center for Diabetes Research, and Professor Ursula Krämer of the Leibniz Institute for Environmental Medical Research (IUF) at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf.

Dr. Sell was recognized for her work on chemerin, a recently discovered adipokine hormone, which she carried out in cooperation with the research group of Professor Peter Arner of Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. Dr. Sell showed that the hormone is secreted by human fat cells and is significantly elevated in obese test subjects. The hormone could be an important factor for obesity-mediated insulin resistance.

With the award for Professor Krämer, the Anna Wunderlich – Ernst Jühling Foundation recognized a joint study of the IUF and the DDZ, in which Professor Krämer showed that severe air pollution, particularly from road traffic, increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.


(fr L to R) Dr. Seema Dangwal, Dr. Henrike Sell, Prof. Dr. Markku Laakso, Prof. Dr. Ursula Krämer

The prizes are awarded by the Anna Wunderlich – Ernst Jühling Foundation “for outstanding scientific work in the field of diabetes research and the promotion of young scientists”.