Institute

Pettenkofer Award 2024

The Berlin-based infection researcher Dr. Timo Rückert from the Institute for Medical Immunology at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin and the German Rheumatism Research Center has been awarded the Pettenkofer Prize 2024 for his groundbreaking work on this year’s virological topic: “The Role of the Innate Immune System in Defending Against Viral Infections.”

The award ceremony took place on December 2nd, 2024, in a festive event at the New Town Hall of Munich. The Pettenkofer Prize, which is highly renowned among infection researchers, is awarded annually by the Pettenkofer Foundation, which is managed by the Social Department of the City of Munich. The foundation’s board, City Director Stefan Eckhardt, and the directors of the Max von Pettenkofer Institute, Professor Oliver T. Keppler and Professor Sebastian Suerbaum, as well as Dr. Gerd Maass, representing the sponsor Roche, honored the awardee. The laudation was given by the renowned virologist Professor Otto Haller from the Institute of Virology at the University Hospital Freiburg and a guest professor at the University of Zürich.

Dr. Rückert and his colleagues’ outstanding scientific work in the laboratory of Professor Chiara Romagnani represents the first known example of long-lasting, pathogen-targeted immune memory in the innate immune system, specifically in Natural Killer Cells, against the cytomegalovirus. These findings are of fundamental importance for understanding human immune responses – both in the context of infections and vaccinations, as well as in autoimmunity.

After his lecture, Dr. Rückert was awarded with the prize certificate. The award ceremony and prize money were sponsored by Roche, with its Life-Science Competence Center in Penzberg, to promote scientific research and the professional development of talents.

The Pettenkofer Foundation serves to promote science and research in the fields of scientific and practical hygiene, as well as medical microbiology and virology. Pettenkofer’s name and his life’s work are closely related with the fight against infectious diseases. Max von Pettenkofer dedicated himself especially to combating the cholera epidemic at the end of the 19th century. At his urging, the Munich sewage system was built, a central slaughterhouse was established, and Munich’s drinking water supply from the Mangfall Valley was introduced.

Further information on the foundation’s administration can be found at:

https://stadt.muenchen.de/infos/stiftungsverwaltung