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).