This year, the award of the Klüh Foundation for the Promotion of Innovation in Science and Research, which is endowed with 25,000 Euros in prize money, goes to the scientist Prof. Dr. Kathrin Thedieck for her research into the rare disease tuberous sclerosis. The head of the Department “Metabolism, Senescence and Autophagy” at the newly established Research Centre One Health at the University Alliance Ruhr and her team study signalling networks that control the metabolism and growth of tumour cells. The aim is to develop new therapeutic approaches.
The prize, which has been awarded since 1987, was presented in Düsseldorf’s historic City Hall in the presence of the Mayor Dr. Stephan Keller. The laudatory speech was given by Prof. Roland Koch, former Minister-President of the State of Hesse, who, together with Anke Koch, is a patron of Tuberöse Sklerose Deutschland e. V. (Tuberous Sclerosis Germany) and is on the board of trustees of the Deutsche Tuberöse Sklerose Stiftung (German Tuberous Sclerosis Foundation).
The biochemist and cell biologist Prof. Dr. Kathrin Thedieck and her team have been researching tumour metabolism and its regulation by the signal protein mTOR, which plays an important role in both cancer and tuberous sclerosis, for over 15 years. Tuberous sclerosis is a congenital disorder that affects one in 6,000 newborns. Tumours in all organ systems, including the brain and kidneys, and neuropsychiatric symptoms shape the lives of those affected and their families. Current therapies target mTOR directly, with good treatment results but also unwanted side effects, which are due to mTOR’s central function in cell metabolism. A better understanding of the metabolism itself and how it changes in diseased tissue opens the door to new possibilities for more targeted use of existing drugs and for developing innovative therapeutic concepts that focus on metabolism.
In his laudatory speech, Prof. Roland Koch said: “I am delighted to award the Klüh Foundation Prize to a scientist whose groundbreaking research is making a direct contribution to improving treatment options for people with tuberous sclerosis.”
Since 2021, the University Alliance Ruhr has been carrying out top international research on pressing issues of the future in four research centres and one college. The initiative of the Ruhr Conference highlights the strong development of the Ruhr region as a knowledge base. Here, attractive career opportunities are created for outstanding scientists. The newly founded Research Center One Health Ruhr – from Molecules to Systems of the universities of Duisburg-Essen, Dortmund and Bochum investigates the fundamental mechanisms of health and disease, from the molecular level to superordinate systems. For this, the ecosystem is viewed as a context for understanding the complex interactions between environmental health, animal health and human health, in line with the “One Health” concept. The Department “Metabolism, Senescence and Autophagy” at the Medical Faculty of the University of Duisburg-Essen, which is headed by Prof. Dr Thedieck, focuses on the influence of metabolic disorders on molecular networks that regulate tumour development and therapy response.
The award winner studied at the University of Münster and the École supérieure de Biotechnologie Strasbourg and earned her PhD at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research. After a research stay at the University of Basel with the discoverer of mTOR, Michael N. Hall, she became a Group Leader at the University of Freiburg in 2008 and in 2013 she accepted an appointment as Associate Professor at the University of Groningen. From 2019 to 2024, Prof. Dr. Thedieck was Professor and Head of the Institute of Biochemistry at the University of Innsbruck. Her research has been recognised by a number of awards and prestigious grants; she is currently researching with an ERC Advanced Grant, the highest European award for cutting-edge research. Numerous offers of professorships from top-level research institutions, such as the Charité in Berlin and the Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum (German Cancer Research Centre) in Heidelberg, underline the international standing of her work.
