Prof. Dr. Dr. Philipp Schommers and Dr. Alexander Simonis receive Walter Siegenthaler Medals
In addition, Prof. Dr. Dr. Philipp Schommers heads an associated research group at the Center for Molecular Medicine Cologne (CMMC), where Dr. Alexander Simonis is Principal Investigator and a participant in the Career Advancement Program.
The medals of the Walter Siegenthaler Society are awarded in recognition of fundamental scientific work on current topics in internal medicine and were presented at the 38th Symposium of the Society in Cologne in early November. The award comes with a cash prize of 2,000 euros.
Prof. Dr. Dr. Philipp Schommers heads the Laboratory of Antiviral Immunity. His research group was able to show that HIV-1 neutralizing activity and the longevity of naturally produced neutralizing antibodies strongly depend on the amount of virus in the patient, in a known analogy to SARS-COV2 infection. They characterized HIV-1-infected individuals who developed a highly potent and broadly neutralizing antibody response that was detectable for many years. This raises the prospect of developing an HIV-1 vaccine that induces such a long-lasting antibody response in vaccinated individuals.
Title of the award-winning paper: Dynamics and durability of HIV-1 neutralization are determined by viral replication. Nature Medicine 2023 Nov;29(11):2763-2774 (https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-023-02582-3)
Dr. Alexander Simonis heads the Laboratory of Translational Infection Immunology. Together with his team, he has discovered a novel approach for the antibiotic-independent blockade of virulence factors of the hospital bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa. These bacteria can cause life-threatening lung, kidney and bloodstream diseases and are threatened by numerous resistance mechanisms. New treatment options are urgently needed to address the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance. This award-winning study demonstrated that the human humoral immune response can be harnessed to develop highly potent antibacterial antibodies that bypass conventional resistance mechanisms. Human monoclonal antibodies could thus provide an innovative therapeutic approach, particularly for serious infections caused by multidrug-resistant bacteria.
Title of the award-winning work: Discovery of highly neutralizing human antibodies targeting Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Cell. 2023 Nov 9;186(23):5098-5113.e19. (DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2023.10.002)
This news is based on a press release by the PR team of the University Hospital Cologne, modified by the CMMC. You can download the original version here.