Awarding of the Eva Luise Köhler Research Prize for Rare Diseases 2016

07.03.2016 13:26

On March 5th, the Eva Luise Köhler Research Prize for Rare Diseases was awarded for the ninth time in the Konzerthaus am Gendarmenmarkt in Berlin-Mitte. Private lecturer Dr. rer. nat. Sven Thoms and Prof. Dr. med. Ekkehard Wilichowski and the research team from the Muscular Dystrophy Working Group at the Clinic for Child and Adolescent Medicine at the University Medical Center Göttingen convinced the foundation's jury with their research approach to the treatment of muscular dystrophies (muscle loss).

Around four million people in Germany live with rare diseases. For most of these clinical pictures, there are virtually no precise treatment approaches or targeted medications. That is why rare diseases in particular are in great need of research. However, due to the low number of patients, there are only a few companies in the pharmaceutical industry that address these diseases in research and development. The Eva Luise Köhler Research Prize therefore supports those scientific projects that are committed to providing relief or healing outside of large numbers of cases.

Federal President Joachim Gauck, who took part in the event with his partner Daniela Schadt, congratulated both the award-winning team and the Eva Luise and Horst Köhler Foundation on their tenth anniversary in his greeting: “Thanks to the great efforts of many committed people, it has been yours for ten years “The foundation’s work has succeeded in increasing awareness of the fact that people with rare diseases need special support.” Biochemist Dr. Sven Thoms and senior physician Prof. Ekkehard Wilichowski accepted the 2016 research award worth 50,000 euros on behalf of the entire team from Eva Luise Köhler. The honor was both a challenge and an incentive for them and their fellow campaigners, they thanked the founder.