“The Lisec Artz Prize is a high-profile award bestowed in recognition of innovative cancer research projects. I am very pleased that this year we are recognizing Dr. Haas, whose early-career work on blood stem cells demonstrates continuous excellence,” commented Professor Bernd Weber, Dean of the University of Bonn Faculty of Medicine.
The Lisec Artz Prize competition is conducted jointly by University of Bonn Foundation and the Faculty of Medicine. Formed from the estate of Maria Josefine Lisec at her passing in 1972, the Lisec Artz Foundation merged into the University of Bonn Foundation in 2011. “This award is presented to honor outstanding achievement and promising research results for the advancement of cancer research,” says Professor Dagmar Wachten, Deputy Chair of the Board of Directors of University of Bonn Foundation.
How stem cells and immune cells communicate
Leukemia in many cases is caused by the degeneration of stem cells, which are therefore being targeted in research as key cells for the development of innovative early-stage therapies. Dr. Simon Haas leads a working group for the joint research activities of the Berlin Institute of Health at Charité (BIH), Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin and the Max Delbrück Center, aimed at understanding how stem cells interact with immune cells. Dr. Haas’ breakthrough discovery of a previously unknown protective mechanism that prevents leukemia from developing from stem cells (and other distinguished research) earned him the Lisec Artz Prize.
“Stem cells can divide indefinitely—they are most fascinating—but many gaps remain in our knowledge about them,” Dr. Haas, commented, “We believe further gains in stem cell research will be instrumental in developing therapies that effectively intervene in early-stage pathological processes of forms of leukemia.”
Bio
Dr. Haas, the award recipient, came to Berlin in 2020 after working at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and in Boston, USA at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University, among other stations in his early career. He now leads a working group on “Single Cell Approaches for Personalized Medicine”—a joint research area of the Berlin Institute of Health at Charité (BIH), the Max Delbrück Center (MDC) and Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin.