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DZD Scientist Receives Prize for Her Research on Type 1 Diabetes

Professor Carolin Daniel of the DZD partner Helmholtz Zentrum München has been awarded the 2019 Nils Ilja Richter Prize of the German Autoimmunity Foundation.

Fr L to R: Henning Wurr, treasurer of the foundation, Felix Vörtler, actor and ambassador of the foundation , Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Ulrich Fölsch, vice chairman of the foundation, prizewinner Prof. Dr. Carolin Daniel, and Prof. Dr. Dietrich Kabelitz, chairman of the foundation. Photo: Deutsche Auto-Immunstiftung, Ralf Huber

The Deutsche Autoimmun-Stiftung (German Autoimmunity Foundation) has set itself the goal of significantly supporting the funding of research and treatment for all autoimmune diseases, including type 1 diabetes. In Germany alone, around 5 million people are affected by an autoimmune disease.

The Nils Ilja Richter Prize has been awarded since 1999. Carolin Daniel was selected as the award winner in 2019 by an external commission of experts for her fundamental research on the role of regulatory T cells, or Tregs for short, in type 1 diabetes.

Professor Dieter Kabelitz, chairman of the German Autoimmunity Foundation, said in his laudatory address: “Professor Daniel has conducted fundamental research in mouse models, but has also investigated these insulin-specific Treg cells and their possible dysregulation in children with type 1 diabetes. The research group was able to demonstrate the presence of insulin-specific Tregs for the first time and has developed concepts for how insulin-specific Tregs can potentially be used therapeutically in the future to slow down the autoimmune process or to stop the autoimmune disease."