BIOSS speaker receives prestigious distinction

Prof. Dr. Maja Köhn, chemical biologist at the University of Freiburg, has become a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC). Fellowship of this scientific society is an honor awarded for outstanding research achievements by chemists. “I am delighted to receive this international recognition from the Royal Society of Chemistry and I am looking forward to engaging in new interactions with other members of the network,” says Köhn.

As Professor of Integrative Signalling Studies at the University of Freiburg, a member of the Cluster of Excellence CIBSS – Centre for Integrative Biological Signalling Studies and the research center BIOSS, using chemical and biological methods Maja Köhn and her team investigate molecules with vital functions, known as phosphatases: these enzymes play a key role in the transmission of signals within and between cells, and also in the development of cancers. To uncover the mechanisms by which these signals are transmitted and devise new therapeutic approaches, the team is developing substances that interact with phosphatases. One of the first active substances developed by Köhn, for example, influences protein phosphatase-1 (PP1) and activates this enzyme in the cell. This research is also making an important contribution to immunotherapy treatment for cancer.

Maja Köhn has been Professor of Integrative Signalling Studies at the University of Freiburg’s Institute of Biology III since 2016. She is the speaker of the BIOSS Centre for Biological Signalling Studies and a board member of CIBSS. Her previous honors include the Tetrahedron Young Investigator Award in Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry (2015) and the Miklos-Bondanszky Award from the European Peptide Society (2016). She has also received two distinguished awards from the European Research Council, an ERC Starting Grant (2012) and an ERC Consolidator Grant (2019).