Heinrich Draeger Research Award 2014

Dr. Christian Karsten receives the Heinrich Draeger Research Award 2014, endowed with 2,500 euros, for his publication "Anti-inflammatory activity of IgG1 mediated by Fc galactosylation and association of FcγRIIB and Dectin-1", which appeared in Nature Medicine (2012 Sep;18(9):1401-6).
In this work, Dr. Karsten was able to describe a previously unknown mechanism by which antibodies are able to inhibit complement-mediated immune responses. Interestingly, this effect is strongly dependent on the particular structure of the antibody. Only those antibodies that have certain sugar structures have an inhibitory effect. If these structures are missing, the anti-inflammatory effect is no longer observed. The effects observed by Dr. Karsten provide important insights into the role of antibodies in the control of complement-mediated inflammatory reactions and autoimmune diseases.

Dr. Karsten, born in Hamburg in 1976, studied biology at the University of Hamburg from 1996 to 2004. He received his PhD in 2009 with a thesis on immunological tolerance mechanisms during pregnancy at the University of Lübeck. Since then, Dr. Karsten has been working at the Institute for Systemic Inflammation Research in the research group of Prof. Dr. med. Jörg Köhl, who also gave the laudatory speech.

The Heinrich Dräger Science 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 its Research Award in recognition of a particularly outstanding scientific publication whose work results were primarily generated at the university. The prize is awarded alternately to scientists from the STEM and Medicine sections. Doctoral researchers whose doctorate was awarded no longer than five years ago are eligible to apply.