Breakthrough in research: Magdeburg's young talents honored!

Breakthrough in research: Magdeburg's young talents honored!

On June 26, 2025, the ceremonial awarding of the Young Research Award of the Medical Faculty of the University Medical Center Magdeburg took place in Magdeburg. Two high-profile award winners were honored for their outstanding achievements in clinical and biomedical research. Dr. med. Tobias Ronny Haage and Dr. rer. nat. Lorena Morton each received a prize of 7,500 euros for their innovative research projects. The aim of this funding is to support the scientific profile development of the award winners and to enable them to acquire additional third-party funding.

Dr. med. Tobias Ronny Haage, assistant doctor at the University Clinic for Hematology, Oncology and Cell Therapy, was honored for his project, which...Impact of bone marrow involvement on the extent of anti-CD20 antibody therapy-mediated thrombocytopenia in follicular lymphomaexamined. Under the scientific supervision of Prof. Dr. med. Dimitrios Mougiakakos, the 31-year-old already has an impressive eight publications to his name, including four as first author.

His colleague, Dr. rer. nat. Lorena Morton, researches at the Institute for Inflammation and Neurodegeneration. She was chosen for her projectPericyte reprogrammingand the therapeutic potential of extracellular vesicles in hypertensive cerebral microangiopathy. Her work under the direction of Prof. Dr. rer. nat. habil. Ildiko R. Dunay is based on a solid 12 publications, three of which were the first author, and thus impressively demonstrates her commitment to biomedical research.

New young talent award from the Paul Martini Foundation

Another important prize for young scientists was recently launched: The Paul Martini Foundation will award the Paul Martini Young Talent Prize for clinical research in Germany for the first time in 2024. This prize is aimed at young scientists up to the age of 35 and is awarded for outstanding achievements in clinical research and pharmacology. The award is endowed with 6,000 euros each and is intended to promote the ideas and projects of young researchers.

Applications must be submitted by September 15, 2024. A three-member jury chaired by Prof. Dr. Stefan Endres from the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich will select the winners. The award ceremony will take place during the foundation's autumn symposium on November 30, 2024 in Berlin.

Funding opportunities for clinical studies

In order to further advance clinical research, various funding programs offer support. For example, it promotes DFG patient-oriented clinical research. The aim of these programs is to demonstrate the effectiveness of therapeutic, diagnostic or prognostic procedures. Interventional clinical studies, clinical observational studies and feasibility studies are funded.

The selection and funding of such projects is based on strict criteria that require high scientific quality and originality as well as clinical relevance. Scientists in Germany who have completed scientific training can apply for funding ranging from personnel resources to travel costs. This offers a valuable opportunity for young researchers to put their project ideas into action.

These initiatives are essential to offer young scientists in Germany a springboard for innovative ideas and to advance research in medicine. The exchange and networking between the various actors is of great importance here. Because one thing is clear: the future of medical research lies in the hands of talented and committed young scientists.