As in previous years, the EKFS will award publication prizes to outstanding researchers for work funded by the EKFS in 2025. Each prize is endowed with €10,000, which recipients are free to use at their discretion.
The following eight researchers were honored:
PD Dr. Dr. Katrin Böttcher, Department of Internal Medicine I, University Hospital Tübingen, for her paper “Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid-Induced Metabolic Exhaustion and Ferroptosis Impair the Anti-Tumour Function of MAIT Cells in MASLD” published in the Journal of Hepatology in 2025: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168827825022731?via%3Dihub
Patients with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) are predisposed to liver cancer (human hepatocellular carcinoma, HCC). Katrin Böttcher and her team at the University of Tübingen and the TUM in Munich have identified a mechanism that explains this link: Immune defenders in the liver known as mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells are the key. The team showed that polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) accumulate in these cells, triggering lipid peroxidation (oxidative damage to lipids), which ultimately leads to MAIT cell death. If lipid peroxidation is selectively inhibited, MAIT cells can regain their anti-cancer function. A gene signature score derived from this also correlates with outcomes in patients with liver cancer. These findings open up new possibilities for treatments that target lipid metabolism.
Dr. Julius C. Fischer, Department of Radiation Oncology, Technical University of Munich (TUM), for his paper “Tissue-Adapted Tregs Harness Inflammatory Signals to Promote Intestinal Repair from Therapy-Related Injury” published in Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy in 2025: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41392-025-02476-5
Julius Fischer’s study highlights a newly identified function of regulatory T cells (Tregs) in intestinal regeneration following cancer treatment. Beyond their established role as immune system “brakes,” it has now been shown that Tregs also actively promote the repair of damaged intestinal tissue. Particularly after radiation therapy or allogeneic stem cell transplantation, they help initiate and support regenerative processes. Remarkably, they also use inflammatory signals that were previously widely considered harmful. These insights fundamentally further the understanding of Treg immune functions and open up new possibilities for reducing treatment-related side effects. The study shows that Tregs not only have an immunosuppressive function, but also play a direct, potentially therapeutic role in tissue repair.
PD Dr. Florian Herrmann, Department of Cardiac Surgery, LMU University Hospital, LMU Munich, for his paper “Long-Term Continuous Monitoring of New-Onset Atrial Fibrillation after Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting” published on JAMA in 2025: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2839710
As part of this study, patients undergoing a coronary bypass were fitted with small cardiac monitors implanted beneath the skin of the chest wall at the end of surgery. These devices allowed continuous heart rhythm monitoring for an entire year. Florian Herrmann and his team were able to show that nearly half of the patients developed new-onset atrial fibrillation within the first year after surgery. The arrhythmia mainly occurred in the first 30 days after surgery and only rarely thereafter. Over the entire year, the atrial fibrillation episodes in affected patients were brief. As the condition typically emerged transiently soon after surgery, the long-term oral anticoagulation (“blood thinning”) recommended in the guidelines for such patients should be critically reassessed.
Prof. Dr. Leonard Möckl, Nano-Optic Imaging, Uniklinikum Erlangen, for his paper “Ångström-Resolution Imaging of Cell-Surface Glycans” published in Nature Nanotechnology in 2025: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41565-025-01966-5
In this study, Leonard Möckl and his team show sugar structures on the surface of cells at molecular resolution for the first time. The researchers make individual sugar building blocks of what is known as the glycocalyx visible – a dense sugar-rich layer that coats every human cell and is central to immunology, oncology, and virology. To achieve this, they combined a specialized chemical labeling approach with a novel light microscopy technique. This enabled a resolution below one nanometer (one millionth of a millimeter), which allowed them to even detect the distances between individual sugars. The study showed that sugars on the cell surface are not distributed randomly, but rather occur in small, ordered patterns. This could help to better understand how cells communicate with their environment and how this sugar layer changes in case of disease.
Dr. Elisabeth Nowak, Department of Medicine IV, LMU University Hospital, LMU Munich, for her paper “Cycle Characterisation and Clinical Complications in Patients with Cyclic Cushing’s Syndrome: Insights from an International Retrospective Cohort Study” published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology in 2025: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/landia/article/PIIS2213-8587(25)00249-9/abstract
Cyclic Cushing’s syndrome is a rare disorder in which the body produces cortisol in intermittent cycles rather than continuously. This poses significant diagnostic challenges. An international cohort study conducted by Elisabeth Nowak and her team with 110 patients from 21 countries showed that ectopic tumors exhibited the most pronounced cortisol variability. These tumors occur at atypical sites in the body or produce hormones. 28% of all patients developed potentially life-threatening adrenal insufficiency during remission. Diagnostic testing performed during inactive phases was more likely to result in misclassification. The study delivered numerous key findings: repeated cortisol measurements are essential, however invasive diagnostic procedures should only be performed during active phases. In addition, the biochemical presentation facilitates identification of a tumor’s origin. Given the risk of spontaneous adrenal insufficiency, patients should be prescribed glucocorticoid medication as a precaution.
Dr. Kami Pekayvaz, Department of Medicine I, University Hospital, LMU Munich, for his paper “Immunothrombolytic Monocyte-Neutrophil Axes Dominate the Single-Cell Landscape of Human Thrombosis and Correlate with Thrombus Resolution” published in Immunity in 2025:
https://www.cell.com/immunity/fulltext/S1074-7613(25)00139-6?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS1074761325001396%3Fshowall%3Dtrue
In this study, Kami Pekayvaz and his team characterized the immune system in blood clots (thromboses) in humans for the first time. They used modern methods, which allowed individual cells to be analyzed. In the early phases of thrombosis, processes that promote clot formation predominate. However, these processes change over time: certain immune cells migrate into the clot and actively help to dissolve it in a process known as “immunothrombolysis.” The findings thus suggest that the body has its own mechanisms specifically to break down blood clots. These new insights could aid in the development of treatments that harness these endogenous mechanisms. In turn, this could enable more effective treatment of blood clots, potentially with a lower risk of severe bleeding than with current treatments.
Dr. Florian Perner, Department of Hematology, Hemostasis, Oncology and Stem Cell Transplantation, Hannover Medical School (MHH), for his paper “Catalytic Inhibition of KAT6/KAT7 Enhances the Efficacy and Overcomes Primary and Acquired Resistance to Menin Inhibitors in MLL Leukemia” in Cancer Discovery in 2025: https://aacrjournals.org/cancerdiscovery/article-abstract/15/10/2117/765956/Catalytic-Inhibition-of-KAT6-KAT7-Enhances-the?redirectedFrom=fulltext
Acute leukemia is an aggressive cancer of the blood-forming system. Targeted therapies known as menin inhibitors have only recently become available and are effective in certain leukemia subtypes. However, in some patients, these epigenetic treatments lose efficacy over time or only show limited benefit from the outset. In an international collaboration with researchers from Harvard University (USA) and the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne (Australia), Florian Perner and his team were able to learn why this happens – and how this issue might be overcome. The study identified the epigenetic enzyme complex KAT6/KAT7 as a key driver of leukemia cell growth. Combined inhibition of menin and KAT6/KAT7 proved significantly more effective than single-agent therapy in preclinical models and also allowed resistance to be overcome. These findings are of high clinical relevance, as menin inhibitors are already approved for certain leukemia subtypes and open up new treatment strategies.
Dr. Eva Maria Schleicher, Department of Internal Medicine I, University Medical Center, Johannes Gutenberg-University, for her paper “Effect of Albumin Treatment Duration on Response Rates and Outcomes in Patients with Cirrhosis and Acute Kidney Injury” in the Journal of Hepatology in 2025: https://www.journal-of-hepatology.eu/article/S0168-8278(25)00164-3/fulltext
Acute kidney injury (AKI) counts among the most severe complications in patients with liver cirrhosis. Particularly hepatorenal syndrome (HRS-AKI) is unfavorable. Its diagnosis is based on an international algorithm by excluding criteria and requires the targeted administration of human albumin – a protein solution derived from human blood plasma that is administered by infusion. The aim of the study was to evaluate, for the first time based on data, the currently recommended shortening of albumin treatment from 48 to 24 hours. In a bicentric cohort study involving 127 patients, Eva Maria Schleicher and her team showed that 18–30% of patients who responded to albumin treatment after 48 hours did not show any response within the first 24 hours. A general shortening of albumin treatment would therefore lead to significant overtreatment with terlipressin, a drug that constricts blood vessels and can have severe side effects.