Four prizes for top research at University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf

"The Dr. Martini Prize honurs excellent scientific work that has particular clinical relevance and provides new insights into the development of diseases," said Prof. Dr. Ansgar W. Lohse, Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Dr. Martini Foundation and Director of UKE's I. Medical Clinic and Polyclinic. First prize went to Dr. Max Kaufmann, Institute of Neuroimmunology and Multiple Sclerosis (MS), for identifying immune cells that settle in the brain during the course of the autoimmune disease MS. There, they are shielded from medicine and can accelerate the course of the disease and precipitate severe disabilities.

Dr. Gustav Buescher and Dr, Marcial Sebode, I. Medical Clinic and Polyclinic, won second prize for their research into COVID-19 among patients with rare liver diseases. Dr. Filip Berisha, Clinic and Polyclinic for Cardiology,  also won second prize for developing new, highly-sensitive biomarkers that reveal molecular changes in chronic heart failure and identify life-threatening arrhythmias early. That minimises the risk of sudden heart failure, according to the trustees. Fabian Heinrich, a doctoral student, received the Dr. Martini Medal for his systematic analysis of the causes of death of COVID-19 patients by autopsy in forensic medicine.

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