Biemann Medal for DKFZ Researcher:

Dr Béla Paisz, head of the Young Investigators Group "Computational Proteomics" at the German Cancer Research Centre has received the Biemann Medal 2011 in Denver (USA). The award endowed with 5,000 US Dollar is granted by the American Society for Mass Spectrometry. Béla Paisz' research focuses on the detailed characterisation of protein and protein product structures and dissociation mechanisms by using mass spectrometry. Scientists use this procedure to determine which proteins occur in living organisms or body fluids. In the process, the proteins are dissociated into small components (peptides and their fragments), the mass of which is measured in mass spectrometers. The researchers then reassemble the information thus obtained much like parts of a puzzle in order to reconstruct the complete protein structures. By his award-winning work, Béla Paizs has characterised diverse dissociation mechanisms for the major fragmentation pathways of peptides in the mass spectrometer. These achievements have substantially advanced the field of peptide characterisation and provide a solid scientific background for developing improved bioinformatics tools for peptide sequencing.

back