Pioneer in Biomedical Science Receives the Gutenberg Research Award

The Gutenberg Research College (GRC) of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) has presented the 2016 Gutenberg Research Award to American biomedical researcher Dr. Vishva Dixit for his groundbreaking work in the field of programmed cell death. His findings have contributed significantly to the understanding of the actual mechanisms involved in the crucial process that is also known as apoptosis. At the same time, Dixit is also helping to convert the information obtained into a form that can be employed in clinical applications.

"In the person of Dr. Vishva Dixit, the Gutenberg Research College is bestowing the Gutenberg Research Award on an internationally acclaimed top-level researcher. His groundbreaking findings on cell death have provided important clues that help us understand in much more detail the processes associated with the immune system," emphasised Professor Matthias Neubert, Director of the Gutenberg Research College

Programmed cell death is a genetically predetermined mechanism that takes more or less the same form in almost all multi-cellular organisms. If  this process becomes defective it can have serious consequences and can result, for example, in the promotion of tumour growth and neurodegenerative disorders. "With this in view, the unique importance of Dr. Dixit's work becomes apparent. Dixit and his team laid the foundations for decoding the mechanisms underlying programmed cell death in the early 1990s. He is thus one of the trailblazers in this field of fundamental research who has contributed towards putting in place the prerequisites for the development of new therapies to treat cancer and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's," explained Professor Ulrich Förstermann, Chief Medical Officer of the Mainz University Medical Centre.