Award for Heidelberg Evolutionary Geneticist
Henrik Kaessmann receives Ernst Schering Prize for fundamental contributions to understanding mammalian evolution
Prof. Dr Henrik Kaessmann has been selected to receive the 2026 Ernst Schering Prize for his pioneering research into the evolutionary origins and genetic regulation of organ development and organ function. The award, which comes with 50,000 euros in prize money, is presented by the Schering Stiftung and recognizes outstanding scientific achievements in biological, medical or chemical basic research. With his team at the Center for Molecular Biology of Heidelberg University (ZMBH), Prof. Kaessmann investigates the molecular and cellular origins and evolution of vertebrate organs. His systematic, cross-species analyses include jawless vertebrates as well as birds, reptiles and mammals – including humans.
With his studies on the evolution of gene expression and the emergence of new genes, Henrik Kaessmann has fundamentally expanded our understanding of the development of vertebrate organs while pushing conceptual and methodological boundaries, according to the citation for the award to the Heidelberg evolutionary geneticist. In large-scale single-cell studies, Prof. Kaessmann and his team were able, for instance, to identify genetic changes that, over the course of evolution, contributed to the development of the unusually large and complex human brain or to human-specific adaptations in the liver. He has also succeeded in decoding the genetic mechanisms that underlie the evolution of sex chromosomes in mammals, birds and reptiles.
The foundation further states that Henrik Kaessmann’s research, at the interface of evolutionary biology, developmental genomics and molecular biology, combines basic research questions with direct medical relevance. By decoding how genes are activated and controlled in different cells and organs, he creates important frames of reference for biomedical research. His comparative datasets and analyses provide fundamental benchmarks and new starting points for research into a wide range of diseases, particularly those affecting the brain, liver and reproductive organs. Prof. Kaessmann and his team have also identified promising candidate genes that may be linked to disease risks or fertility.
Henrik Kaessmann studied biology at LMU Munich and Uppsala University in Sweden. In 2001, he earned his doctorate from Leipzig University with a dissertation completed at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. After a research stay at the University of Chicago in the USA, he moved in 2003 to the Center for Integrative Genomics at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland, where he ultimately served as full professor. In 2015 he accepted an appointment at Heidelberg University’s Faculty of Biosciences. Henrik Kaessmann has received numerous awards for his research, including three substantial grants from the European Research Council (ERC) as well as the Friedrich Miescher Award and the Cloëtta Prize. He is a member of the European Molecular Biology Organization and the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina.
With its science award, the Schering Stiftung honors researchers worldwide each year whose basic research in biology, chemistry or medicine is pioneering. The award ceremony for the 2026 Ernst Schering Prize to Henrik Kaessmann will take place on 17 November at the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Berlin.
