Prof. Dr. Harald zur Hausen Awarded Nobel Prize for Medicine
6 10 2008
Rector Prof. Dr. Bernhard Eitel congratulated Professor zur Hausen on his “sensational success and the ultimate scientific recognition in the shape of the Nobel Prize”
| |
|
Prof. Dr. Harald zur Hausen
Foto: Kresin
|
Prof. Dr. Harald zur Hausen, long-time chairman of the board of the German Cancer Research Centre (DKFZ) and honorary professor of the University of Heidelberg, has been awarded the Nobel Prize for medicine. Rector Prof. Dr. Bernhard Eitel congratulated Professor zur Hausen on his “sensational success and the ultimate scientific recognition in the shape of the Nobel Prize”. He went on to say that the Nobel Prize also casts reflected glory on the University of Heidelberg with which the new laureate has been closely associated for decades in a variety of ways. Harald zur Hausen has been an honorary professor of the University of Heidelberg since 1988 and is a member of its Faculty of Medicine.
Harald zur Hausen’s success is based on his investigations of how cervical cancer is triggered by virus infections. His research made it possible to develop a vaccine against the third most frequent kind of cancer affecting women. Zur Hausen receives half of the Nobel Prize, the other half going to Françoise Barré-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier for the discovery of the HI virus that causes AIDS.
As the Helmholtz Community (of which the DKFZ is a member) stated today, zur Hausen first suspected a connection between human papillomavirus (HPV) infections and cervical cancer 30 years ago. In the early 1980s his research group isolated the virus types HPV 16 and HPV 18 for the first time. The vaccine was recently approved in Germany and is an outstanding example of successful technology transfer from basic research.
Harald zur Hausen was born in 1936 and studied medicine in Bonn, Hamburg and Düsseldorf. After his doctorate he worked at the Institute of Medical Microbiology of the University of Düsseldorf, moving from there to the Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia. He received his Habilitation at the University of Würzburg in 1969. In 1972 he was appointed professor of clinical virology at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, subsequently accepting the chair of virology and hygiene at the University of Freiburg in 1977. From 1983 to 2003 Harald zur Hausen was chairman and scientific member of the board of management of the German Cancer Research Centre in Heidelberg. Under zur Hausen’s leadership the Cancer Research Centre stepped up its cooperation with the University Hospital. So-called clinical cooperation units assure close linkage between basic research and clinical medicine so as to transfer research findings to the field of medical care as quickly as possible.
Harald zur Hausen has received several national and international awards and is a holder of the Grand Federal Cross of Merit.
Please address any inquiries to
Dr. Michael Schwarz
Public Information Officer
University of Heidelberg
phone: 06221/542310, fax: 542317
michael.schwarz@rektorat.uni-heidelberg.de
http://www.uni-heidelberg.de/presse
Irene Thewalt
phone: 06221/542310, fax: 542317
presse@rektorat.uni-heidelberg.de
Harald zur Hausen’s success is based on his investigations of how cervical cancer is triggered by virus infections. His research made it possible to develop a vaccine against the third most frequent kind of cancer affecting women. Zur Hausen receives half of the Nobel Prize, the other half going to Françoise Barré-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier for the discovery of the HI virus that causes AIDS.
As the Helmholtz Community (of which the DKFZ is a member) stated today, zur Hausen first suspected a connection between human papillomavirus (HPV) infections and cervical cancer 30 years ago. In the early 1980s his research group isolated the virus types HPV 16 and HPV 18 for the first time. The vaccine was recently approved in Germany and is an outstanding example of successful technology transfer from basic research.
Harald zur Hausen was born in 1936 and studied medicine in Bonn, Hamburg and Düsseldorf. After his doctorate he worked at the Institute of Medical Microbiology of the University of Düsseldorf, moving from there to the Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia. He received his Habilitation at the University of Würzburg in 1969. In 1972 he was appointed professor of clinical virology at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, subsequently accepting the chair of virology and hygiene at the University of Freiburg in 1977. From 1983 to 2003 Harald zur Hausen was chairman and scientific member of the board of management of the German Cancer Research Centre in Heidelberg. Under zur Hausen’s leadership the Cancer Research Centre stepped up its cooperation with the University Hospital. So-called clinical cooperation units assure close linkage between basic research and clinical medicine so as to transfer research findings to the field of medical care as quickly as possible.
Harald zur Hausen has received several national and international awards and is a holder of the Grand Federal Cross of Merit.
Please address any inquiries to
Dr. Michael Schwarz
Public Information Officer
University of Heidelberg
phone: 06221/542310, fax: 542317
michael.schwarz@rektorat.uni-heidelberg.de
http://www.uni-heidelberg.de/presse
Irene Thewalt
phone: 06221/542310, fax: 542317
presse@rektorat.uni-heidelberg.de
Editor:
Email
