Our employee Dr. Sophie Öhlmann received the Willhelm Ellenberger Prize for the best dissertation in 2023 on June 21, 2024. Her scientific work on the molecular pathogenesis of Streptococcus suis infection includes important collaborations with the Institute of Immunology. The same applies to the work of doctoral student Annika Breitfelder, who worked on the joint DFG project on the IgM protease of this pathogen.
In summer 2024, there was further movement in the appointment procedure to fill the W3 professorship for Parasitology. The public presentation of the two candidates Dr. Dr. Katharina May and PD Dr. Dietmar Hamel took place on July 2, 2024. We hope that the professorship will be filled soon. In the meantime, planning for the new parasitology building is progressing. The realization of this construction project would offer outstanding opportunities for research and teaching in infectious medicine at the site.
The largest international conference of pig practitioners and researchers took place in Leipzig from June 4 to 7, 2024 (27th International Pig Veterinary Society Congress bzw.15th European Symposium of Porcine Health Management, https://www.ipvs2024.com/). The congress organized by Prof. Johannes Kauffold and his team was a great success. Numerous internationally renowned scientists, who also play an important role in research at the Institute of Bacteriology and Mycology, found their way to Leipzig.
From October 1, 2024, I will take over from Prof. Gottfried Alber as Spokesperson of the Center for Infection Medicine. Interdisciplinary research and teaching at ZIM is also very important to me. I am looking forward to the exchange at ZIM and hope that important decisions will be made for us in the coming months.