Prof. Dr. Dr. Felix Sahm is Medical Director of Neuropathology at Heidelberg University Hospital (UKHD) and a researcher at the German Cancer Research Center. Felix Sahm specializes in meningiomas, which are tumors that develop in the membranes surrounding the brain. He received the 2026 German Cancer Award for his work on novel approaches to classifying these tumors using molecular analysis and machine learning.
Particularly at the start of their medical career, physicians face the challenge of combining clinical responsibilities with scientific research. This year, nine early-career researchers will receive a two-year Else Kröner Memorial Fellowship, each endowed with €250,000. A fellowship allows recipients to take time away from their clinical responsibilities to focus fully on advancing promising medical research. At the same time, it lays the foundations for a career as a clinician scientist.
Prostate cancer is one of the most common malignancies in men. Early detection using PSA testing can save lives, but it also leads to unnecessary biopsies and overdiagnosis, as PSA cannot reliably distinguish between benign conditions, indolent tumors, and aggressive prostate cancer.
The project aims to develop and validate a Mixed-Reality (MxR)-assisted workflow for the manufacturing of physician-modified stent grafts (PMEG). PMEGs enable patient-specific fenestrated endovascular aortic repair using readily available off-the-shelf stent grafts and are particularly valuable when custom-made devices cannot be obtained within the required timeframe. However, current PMEG manufacturing remains highly dependent on manual measurements and operator experience, with limited standardization of fenestration positioning and stent-strut avoidance.
Bad Homburg v. d. Höhe, August 31, 2026 – Prof. Dr. Daniel Paech is the first recipient of a 2025 Else Kröner Excellence Grant to begin his work in Germany. The Else Kröner-Fresenius-Stiftung (EKFS) earmarked a total of €10 million for its 2025 call for proposals. A portion of this funding will help Professor Paech build up his new research program in Bonn. The clinician scientist, who previously worked at Harvard Medical School, has been researching and teaching at the University of Bonn and the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) since July 2026.
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is currently incurable and causes the progressive loss of nerve cells that control our muscles. However, the disease can differ considerably between patients: in some, nerve cells in the brain are predominantly affected, whereas in others, degeneration is more pronounced in the brainstem and spinal cord. The biological basis of these differences remains poorly understood.
Ultrasound is an important tool for evaluating suspicious breast lesions. However, benign and malignant findings can look similar. As a result, many women undergo biopsies that ultimately show no cancer—an invasive procedure associated with anxiety and distress.
Shear-wave elastography additionally measures tissue stiffness. As malignant tumors are often stiffer, this technique can improve diagnostic assessment, but interpretation is complex and varies between patients.
Cutaneous lupus erythematosus (CLE) is a chronic inflammatory skin disease characterized by marked clinical and molecular heterogeneity. A central role in the pathogenesis is the activation of the type I interferon (IFN) signaling pathway, although the extent of this activation varies among patients as well as across different cell types and tissue compartments. Established therapies such as hydroxychloroquine or other immunosuppressants are not equally effective in all patients.
Multiple sclerosis (MS), the most common degenerative disease of the central nervous system in young adults, affects 2.9 million people worldwide and significantly impacts their quality of life. MS is an autoimmune disease leading to damage to myelin-producing cells and demyelinating lesions, which impair the function and integrity of neurons. Available immunomodulatory therapies can reduce the frequency of relapses but do not promote regeneration.
Many people with chronic kidney disease slowly develop a particular kind of heart failure. The heart still contracts normally, but it grows stiff and no longer fills properly with blood. Doctors call this heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, or HFpEF. Patients often die early, and there are still few effective drugs.
