Research helps heal: Eva Luise Köhler Research Prize for Rare Diseases announced

07.08.2012 10:10

The Eva Luise and Horst Köhler Foundation for People with Rare Diseases, in close cooperation with the Alliance for Chronic Rare Diseases (ACHSE eV), is awarding a prize for research projects dedicated to rare diseases for the sixth time. The research prize, worth 50,000 euros, is named after the patron of ACHSE, Eva Luise Köhler.

“In Germany alone, around four million people are affected by a rare disease. This number makes it clear what a great need there is for knowledge and research in the field of rare diseases. “That’s why research funding is such an important, even vital concern for those affected,” emphasizes Eva Luise Köhler.

Due to the lack of research, orphan diseases, the “orphans of medicine”, lack medications and therapies. The Eva Luise Köhler Research Prize is intended to enable the implementation or start-up financing of a patient-benefit-oriented research project in the field of rare diseases. The research award is also intended to draw the attention of science, industry and society to the fact that research in the field of rare diseases should be one of the most urgent tasks of health policy.

The application deadline for the research award is October 1, 2012. The award ceremony for the award winner(s) is expected to take place on February 28, 2013 in Berlin. Interested scientists can view the official announcement and the application form on the AXIS website download.

The Eva Luise and Horst Köhler Foundation for people with rare diseases

To deepen their commitment to the concerns of people with rare diseases, former Federal President Horst Köhler and his wife initiated the Eva Luise and Horst Köhler Foundation for People with Rare Diseases in 2006. The foundation is committed to research in the field of rare diseases in close cooperation with ACHSE, whose patron is Eva Luise Köhler. In 2007, the foundation awarded the Eva Luise Köhler Research Prize worth 50,000 euros for the first time.

AXIS – Alliance of Chronic Rare Diseases

ACHSE is a network of over 100 patient organizations that represent children and adults with chronic rare diseases and their relatives. Around 4 million affected people live in Germany. A disease is considered rare if no more than 5 out of 10,000 people have the specific clinical picture. Some diseases are so rare that there are only a few people affected in Germany.

The ACHSE has set itself the task of bringing the “orphans of medicine” and their specific problems into the focus of attention. Through initiatives such as advising affected people, a patient-oriented information portal on the Internet, the ACHSE Lotsin at the Charité, which advises doctors on diagnosing and dealing with rare diseases, public relations work and health policy advocacy, concrete help is offered to sick people.