Professor Kathrin Mädler has received the highest award conferred by the German diabetes society, the Deutschen Diabetesgesellschaft (DDG), for her groundbreaking research on treatment for the common affliction of diabetes. The Ferdinand Betram Prize 2011, worth €10,000, was presented at the recently held general meeting of the DDG in Leipzig. Professor Mädler won the award for her exemplary work in transferring the results of fundamental research into applied therapy.

The DDG was particularly impressed by Professor Kathrin Mädler’s empirical findings concerning the mechanism surrounding the decline of beta cells in type 2 diabetes. By employing new so-called anti inflammatory components she has developed a new therapeutic approach to improve the functioning and survival of beta cells in diabetes patients. The new technique is already being used in clinics.

There are type I and type II diabetes. Type I occurs as result of an overreaction of the immune system. The body’s beta cells are destroyed by a high incidence of inflammatory signals. While researchers already know a lot about auto-immune reactions, the cause of the destruction of beta cells in type II diabetes – also known as adult-onset diabetes – is still a subject of much debate. The team of researchers around Mädler suspect that inflammatory factors may play a role here, too. Their research could help to develop anti-inflammatory agents to protect the beta cells from destruction.