2010 Otto Naegeli Prize

The Otto Naegeli Prize for the advancement of medical research is endowed with CHF 200,000 and is one of Switzerland’s most prestigious scientific awards. In 2010, the prize, which is awarded every other year, went to Professor Ruedi Aebersold (ETH Zurich and the University of Zurich) for his work in the field of proteomics. Among other things, the scientist developed a series of analytical methods and computer models that identify proteins and measure their abundance. The results of this work have led to a new understanding of biochemical processes. The knowledge thereby gained is likely to be used in the development of new diagnostic tools for cancer and metabolic disorders.

Ruedi Aebersold is Chairman of the Scientific Executive Board of SystemsX.ch and Principal Investigator of the RTD project PhosphoNetX.

2009 Marcel Benoist Prize

The Marcel Benoist Foundation awarded the 2009 Marcel Benoist Prize, a sum of 100,000 Swiss francs, to Professor Françoise Gisou van der Goot, member of the Global Health Institute at the EPFL. The laureate has been recognized for her work in infectious diseases, notably in how bacterial toxins make their way through a cell and how the cell reacts to these toxins. Considered the “Swiss Nobel Prize,” the Marcel Benoist Prize has recognized scientists established in Switzerland for their important work and its impact on human life since 1920. Françoise Gisou Van der Goot is the first women ever awarded this distinction. For full article, click here.

Gisou van der Goot is also the Principal Investigator of the SystemsX.ch project LipidX.

2009 Swiss Bridge Award

The 2009 Swiss Bridge Award went to Wilhelm Krek from the Insitute of Cell Biology of ETH Zurich for his discoveries about the origin and development of cancer cell in the liver. Krek shares the prize of 500.000 Swiss francs with Matthias Egger from the University of Bern and Stephen C. West from the British Cancer Research.
They have been the 3 finalists awarded from a list of 38 projects submitted by researchers. Swiss Bridge is a private foundation which supports high-quality cancer research in Europe. To read full article, please access Krebsliga Schweiz.

Wilhelm Krek is the Principal Investigator of the SystemsX.ch project LiverX.

2009 Albert Renold Prize Lecturer

Bernard Thorens received the  Albert Renold Prize  in the sum of 20,000 Euros for outstanding achievements in research from the European Assossiation for the Study of Diabetes (EASD). Thorens is a Professor at the Department of Physiology and Center for Integrative Genomics at the University of Lausanne. His research on islet cells was initiated by the cloning and functional characterization of the beta cell glucose transporter Glut2 and of the receptor for the gluco-incretin hormone GLP-1. His studies describe fundamental pathways used by beta cells to adapt to changes in their metabolic environment; these pathways may be targeted for improved therapy of diabetes.

Bernard Thorens is one of the project leaders of the SystemsX.ch project LipidX.