Prize Winner of the Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize 2010

Pioneering research in the field of cytokines

Prof. Charles Dinarello of the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine, USA, received the 100,000 euro Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize 2010 for his outstanding contributions to research in the field of cytokines. The decision to confer the award on him was made by the Board of the Paul Ehrlich Foundation. The Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize is among the most prestigious international prizes awarded in the Federal Republic of Germany in the field of medicine. The award ceremony was taken place at the Paulskirche in Frankfurt on March 14, 2010, the birthday of Paul Ehrlich (1854–1915).

Modulators of inflammatory reactions Cytokines regulate inflammation and reactions to infection, injury and cancer. Whereas some cytokines make disease worse, others reduce inflammation and promote healing. Attention has focused on blocking cytokines that are harmful to the host, particularly during overwhelming infection. Interleukin-1 (IL-1) and tumor necrosis factor (TNF) are proinflammatory cytokines that produce fever, inflammation, tissue destruction, and in some cases shock and death. Reducing the biological activities of IL-1 or TNF is therefore the aim of various therapeutic measures and has been highly successful in patients with a variety of inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, and graftversus- host disease. Prof. Dinarello is considered a founding father of cytokine biology. He purified and cloned interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β) and established the use of IL-1 inhibitors such as monoclonal antibodies for therapy. For example, reducing IL-1 activity is used for the treatment of patients with periodic inflammatory syndromes, gout, type 2 diabetes, multiple myeloma and in children with a severe form of arthritis.

Prof. Charles Dinarello, 66, received his medical degree from Yale University and his clinical training at Massachusetts General Hospital. From 1974-1977 he was senior investigator at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda. After being Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics at Tufts University School of Medicine and a staff physician at the New England Medical Center Hospital in Boston, he moved to the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine in 1996.

Dr. Dinarello serves on the editorial board of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences as well as several scientific journals. He has published over 600 original research articles on cytokines, particularly interleukin-1 and TNF. He has served on the Board of Scientific Advisors of the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Alliance for Lupus Research, was Vice President of the American Society of Clinical Investigation (1989– 1990) and President of the International Cytokine Society (1995–1996). In 1993, he was awarded Germany's Ernst Jung Prize for Medicine for his contributions to the study of infectious diseases and cytokines. He donated the entire prize money to universities and research institutes in the United States and Israel, and established the Sheldon M. Wolff Professorship at Tufts University to honor his late mentor. Prof. Dinarello received the Ludwig Heilmeyer Gold Medal of the Society for Internal Medicine, the International Chirone Prize from the Italian National Academy of Medicine, the Carol Nachman Prize in Rheumatology, Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashdid al Maktoum Award (United Arab Emirates) and the Beering Award (USA). In 2009, he received the Albany Prize in Medicine (USA) and the Crafoord Prize from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Prof. Dinarello holds honorary degrees from the University of Marseille (France), the Weizmann Institute of Science (Israel) and the University of Frankfurt (Germany).

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