Prizes And Awards
Award for Young Hepatitis Researcher
Dr Eike Steinmann is the first laureate of the newly established Jürgen Wehland Award. The research associate at the Twincore Centre for Experimental and Clinical Infection Research in Hannover investigates the stability and deactivation of hepatitis C viruses by way of a newly developed cell culture system. Eike Steinmann's research focuses, amongst other things, on the risk of transmission by objects, such as medical devices. Moreover, he researched the effectiveness of various methods of rendering the hepatitis C virus (HCV) harmless by way of disinfectants. "Eike Steinmann's research is of high relevance to clinical applications and provides valuable clues regarding practical disease control", says Dr Siegfried Weiß, member of the award jury. It is estimated that between 400,000 and 500,000 people in Germany are infected with HCV. In many of these the infection becomes chronic. These patients develop increased risk of liver damage and liver cancer.
This research award granted by the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) and endowed with 5,000 Euro was awarded during the Jürgen Wehland Symposium/"North Regio Day on Infection". In future, it is going to be awarded every year to outstanding young scientists. The award is named in commemoration of Professor Jürgen Wehland, who died unexpectedly on 16 August 2010. Wehland had been scientific director at the HZI for the period from autumn 2009 to summer 2010.
