BIOSS „Writer´s award“ 2014 for Marco Prinz
The cluster of excellence BIOSS Centre for Biological Signalling Studies honours its most successful writer every year, and for 2013 the award goes to Prof Dr Marco Prinz, Director of the Neuropathology department at the Medical Centre – University of Freiburg and BIOSS associate member. In 2013, his work was published in scientific journals such as Nature Neuroscience, Cell Research und Immunity. For his outstanding achievement, Prof Dr Michael Reth, the Scientific Director of BIOSS, awarded Marco Prinz a wooden figure called the “Writer” made by Prof Dr Hans G. Kleinig.
Prinz’s research focuses on the role of the immune system in neurodegeneration and multiple sclerosis. “Highlights were the two Nature Neuroscience publications, in which our research group was involved. They represent a leap forward in the research on mircroglia cells in the brain”, Prinz explains. Microglia are cells in the brain that take up tasks of the immune system. They are similar to the macrophages in the blood. In a publication from January 2013 researchers from Prinz’s lab found the embryonic origin of microglia in an animal model and established which molecular mechanisms regulates the development of these cells.
http://www.bioss.uni-freiburg.de/cms/2862.html
In November 2013 the group succeeded in specifically modifying genes in microglia cells of mice with a gene tool called Cre. This tool cuts out targeted parts of the DNA. In this way the researchers showed that the kinase TAK1 plays an important part in the development of autoimmune diseases in the central nervous system. “This method helps us now to understand the function of microglia in neuroinflammation processes in the brain”, says Prinz.
http://www.bioss.uni-freiburg.de/cms/3192.html
The Performance Oriented Grants Option at BIOSS
In 2010, BIOSS introduced a system for bonus funds called the Performance Oriented Grants Option, or BIOSS POGO. Members of the cluster who publish the results of their research supported by BIOSS in scientific journals are entitled to apply for bonus funds. The amount of POGO they can receive is based on the journal’s impact factor and the researcher’s level of participation, meaning whether they were the first or last author or a co-author.
The Writer’s Award for Researchers
BIOSS honours the writer with the most bonus funds every year with the Writer’s Award. The 2011 winner was Oliver Einsle, and in 2010 it was Michael Reth. Based on his POGO, Wilfried Weber was the most outstanding author at BIOSS in 2012. This year Marco Prinz had the highest POGO rating.
Prof Dr Hans G. Kleinig, who was Professor of Cellular Biology at the Institute of Biology II of the University of Freiburg until 2004, created the wooden figure for the award. For more than 25 years, he has devoted his spare time to creating artistic wooden figures, some reaching 150 centimetres in height, which he has shown in numerous exhibitions.
List of BIOSS publications:
http://www.bioss.uni-freiburg.de/publications/2016/
Homepage Prof. Dr. Marco Prinz:
http://www.uniklinik-freiburg.de/neuropathologie/forschung/innate-immunity-prof-dr-marco-prinz.html