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Eva Luise Köhler Research Prize

Start-up funding for innovative research

The Eva Luise Köhler Research Prize has been awarded annually since 2008 to promote research into rare diseases on the basis of exemplary projects and to honor outstanding personalities. The prize money of € 50,000 has already enabled more than a dozen innovative research projects to be launched. We have asked previous prize winners here what has happened since being awarded the funding.

Please inform yourself about our funding guidelines before applying.

The Eva Luise Köhler Research Prize is awarded in cooperation with the Alliance for Chronic Rare Diseases (ACHSE).

List of all award winners

Eva Luise Köhler Research Award for Rare Diseases

  • 2008 – Prof. Dr. Volkmar Gieselmann, Prof. Dr. Hans-Joachim Galla
  • 2009 – Prof. Dr. Leena Bruckner-Tudermann
  • 2010 – Prof. Dr. Marc Andre Weber, PD Dr. Karin Jurkatt-Rott
  • 2011 – Prof. Dr. Christoph Klein, Prof. Dr. Christopher Baum, PD Dr. Kaan Boztug, Prof. Dr. Christoph von Kalle
  • 2012 – Prof. Dr. Oliver Semler
  • 2013 – Prof. Dr. Gesine Hansen und Team
  • 2015 – Prof. Dr. Heymut Omran
  • 2015 – Prof. Dr. Stephan Lobitz (Anerkennungspreis Neugeborenenscreening Sichelzellanämie)
  • 2016 – PD Dr. Sven Thoms, Prof. Dr. Ekkehard Wilichowski und Team
  • 2017 – Prof. Dr. Michael Schmeißer und Team
  • 2018 – Dr. Ulrike Hedrich Klimosch und Team
  • 2019 – Prof. Dr. Björn Schumacher
  • 2020 – Prof. Dr. Martina Rauner u. Dr. Ulrike Baschant
  • 2021 – Prof. Dr. Thorsten Marquardt, Dr. Julien Park und Prof. Dr. Karl Kunzelmann
  • 2023 – Prof. Dr. Simone Mayer und Eltern der Initiative PCH-Familie e. V.
Eva Luise Köhler Research Prize

Following-up: Where do the research projects stand today?

  • Research Award 2015 – An update

    When cilia remain motionless: Researchers identify 40 genetic defects

    The Eva Luise Köhler Research Prize has been awarded annually since 2008 to promote research into rare diseases. The prize money of €50,000 has already enabled more than a dozen innovative research projects to be launched. The 2015 award winner, Prof. Dr. Heymut Omran, told journalist Sandra Arens how his research in the field of primary ciliary dyskinesia has developed since receiving the award.

    Read more (DE)
  • Research Award 2009 – An update

    As vulnerable as a butterfly – New drugs against epidermis bullosa

    The Eva Luise Köhler Research Prize has been awarded annually since 2008 to promote research into rare diseases. The prize money of € 50,000 has already enabled more than a dozen innovative research projects to be launched. The 2009 prizewinner, Prof. Dr. Leena Bruckner-Tuderman, told journalist Sandra Arens how her research in the field of epidermis bullosa has developed since receiving the award.

    Read more (DE)
  • Research Award 2008 – An update

    Overcoming boundaries and saving lives with the “turbo enzyme”

    The Eva Luise Köhler Research Prize has been awarded annually since 2008 to promote research into rare diseases. The prize money of €50,000 has already enabled more than a dozen innovative research projects to be launched. Journalist Sandra Arens asked the first prizewinners, Prof. Dr. Volkmar Gieselmann and Prof. Dr. Hans-Joachim Galla, how their research into lysosomal storage diseases has progressed since the 2008 award.

    Read more (DE)
  • Research Award 2018

    Private: Help for children with severe early childhood epilepsy

    Sometimes they are just brief moments – tiny muscle twitches, a stare into nothingness. And there are severe episodes: convulsions that shake the body, fainting, fear, confusion. Epilepsy comes out of the blue. It takes control of your life from one moment to the next. The insidiousness of the disease: it cannot always be treated.

    Read more (DE)
  • Recongnition Award 2015

    Sickle cell disease – newborn screening saves lives

    Extreme pain, anemia, organ damage and life-threatening infections – the list of symptoms of sickle cell disease is long. Only early detection can help.
    Pediatrician Dr. Stephan Lobitz played a key role in ensuring that screening for sickle cell disease was included in regular newborn screening in Germany.

    Read more (DE)
  • Research Award 2012

    New therapy for subtype of brittle bone disease

    Bones – as delicate as glass. This is the core symptom of osteogenesis imperfecta, also known as brittle bone disease. Sometimes all it takes is a careless movement, a twitch, a gentle bump and a bone breaks. Many of those affected have to sit in a wheelchair, are of short stature and have deformities of the spine.

    Read more (DE)
  • Research Award 2010

    How a drug defeats a rare form of muscle weakness

    It happens from one second to the next. Legs or arms are paralyzed for minutes – perhaps even several hours. The attacks come and go. But over the years, muscle atrophy often develops, making walking impossible. Hypokalemic periodic paralysis (HypoPP) is the name of the disease, which only affects one person in a hundred thousand.

    Read more (DE)

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