Heinrich Draeger Research Award 2006

Jan Rupp, MD, is awarded the Heinrich Draeger Research Award 2006 for his outstanding scientific publication "Chlamydia pneumoniae infection promotes a proliferative phenotype through Egr-1 activation in vitro and in vivo".
He is first author, the co-authors are Dr. rer. nat. Thomas Hellwig-Bürgel, Dipl.-Biol. Viola Wobbe, Priv.-Doz. Dr. rer. nat. Ulrike Seitzer, Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Ernst Brandt and Prof. Dr. med. Matthias Maaß. The working group conducts research at the Institute for Medical Microbiology and Hygiene at the University of Lübeck (Director: Prof. Dr. med. Werner Solbach) and at the Borstel Research Center.
Dr. Rupp's research is focused on the bacterial genus Chlamydia pneumoniae, which has been identified as the causative agent of pneumonia. He investigated the infection of the initial target cells of Chlamydia in the lung, the mechanisms of their activation and the translocation of Chlamydia pneumoniae from the lung into the vascular system. With the results of his work, among other things, an explanatory model has been found for the first time as to why attempts to treat coronary heart disease with antibiotics have been unsuccessful. The work appeared in the highly respected scientific journal "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America" (PNAS 2005;162:3447-3452). 

Dr. Rupp, born in Stuttgart in 1972, studied medicine at the Universities of Giessen and Luebeck. He is a specialist in microbiology, virology and infectious medicine, group leader at the Institute of Medical Microbiology and Hygiene in Lübeck and a member of the priority program "Life inside cells" of the German Research Foundation, the network "Community acquired pneumonia" of the Federal Ministry of Research and the Cluster of Excellence "Inflammation at Interfaces".

The Heinrich Draeger Research Award was established in 2004 by the Dräger family and Drägerwerk AG on the initiative of Mrs. Lisa Dräger.
Once a year, the University of Luebeck awards this prize in recognition of a particularly outstanding scientific publication based on results that were primarily generated at the university. The prize is awarded alternately to scientists from the STEM and Medicine faculties.
It is awarded as the Perfood Research Award since 2021.