Prizes And Awards
Lautenschläger Research Award for Jochen Wittbrodt
Prof. Dr Jochen Wittbrodt receives the Lautenschläger-Forschungspreis (Research Award) endowed with 250,000 Euro for his work on the development of the retina in vertebrates.
Wittbrodt is the director of the Institute of Toxicology and Genetics at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and founding director of the Centre for Organismal Studies at the University of Heidelberg. Amongst other things, the biologist's research focuses on questions spanning the early embryonic development to the regeneration of eye structures.
A focal point is the development of eyes in osteichthyes, also called bony fish, that is the genetic mechanisms of development, the lifelong growth as well as their regenerative properties. Wittbrodt already has identified genes that are significantly involved in the process of eye development in the model organism of the Medaka fish (Oryzias latipes), a Japanese freshwater fish. In the course of this research, the scientist discovered that cells in the fish embryo are programmed early on to develop into eyes and then move to the site where they finally grow to form the organ. The result is proof of the significance of moving stem cells in the development of organs. The award is granted every two years to top-level researchers from the University of Heidelberg and its scientific cooperation partners.
