Chica and Heinz Schaller Award: Funding for Outstanding Biomedical Research
Prize-winner Dr Mandy Jeske receives 100,000 euros in research funding for her projects
Dr Mandy Jeske is being honored by the Chica and Heinz Schaller Foundation for her investigations into a special class of ribonucleic acids that are of fundamental importance for genome stability during gametogenesis in animals. The scientist, who does research at the Heidelberg University Biochemistry Center (BZH), is to receive the advancement prize for biomedical research named after the founders, which is endowed with research funding amounting to 100,000 euros. The award will be presented at a ceremony on 4 December 2024.
The research group Dr Jeske heads at the BZH is working on what is known as piRNAs – small regulatory ribonucleic acids that inhibit the activity of mobile genetic elements in animal germ cells. With her team, the scientist is working on a multidisciplinary approach to examining protein complexes essential for the biogenesis, maturing and function of piRNAs. For their lab-based investigations, the researchers are using the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, an established model organism for research questions in developmental biology. To decode the molecular functions of piRNA-associated protein complexes, Dr Jeske combines methods from biochemistry and structural biology with approaches from cell biology and genetics. An especially developed test procedure called ReLo enables the quick and easy study of interactions between structurally complex proteins in a cellular context. With the help of ReLo, it has become possible, for instance, to quickly test pairwise interactions of over 25 proteins, which are important for the biogenesis and function of piRNAs. According to the scientist, the outcome of this interaction screen will, in the long-term, pave the way for further studies on the mechanisms responsible for maintaining genome stability in animal germlines.
Mandy Jeske studied biochemistry at the University of Halle-Wittenberg, where she also earned her doctorate in 2010. She then switched to the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg as an interdisciplinary postdoctoral research fellow. There, using methods from structural biology and genetics, Dr Jeske focused especially on the protein Oskar, which is required for the development of the Drosophila embryo. Since 2017 the scientist has led a research group on the biogenesis and function of piRNA at the Heidelberg University Biochemistry Center, which is funded in the Emmy Noether Programme of the German Research Foundation.
The Foundation established by scientists Prof. Dr Chica Schaller and Prof. Dr Heinz Schaller has funded biomedical basic research in Heidelberg since 2000. That involves, in particular, setting up and financing the “Schaller Research Groups”, which operate at Heidelberg University and the German Cancer Research Center. The main funding instruments also include the research prize named after the donors, which has been awarded annually to outstanding young Heidelberg scientists since 2005.
The first speaker at the award ceremony on 4 December 2024 will be Prof. Dr Rohini Kuner, Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the Chica und Heinz Schaller Foundation. As Chairperson of the foundation’s Scientific Advisory Council, Prof. Dr Hans-Georg Kräusslich will introduce Prof. Dr Anne Ephrussi from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, who will pay tribute to the scientific background and projects of the prize-winner. Dr Jeske will explain the focus and aims of her research in the “2024 Schaller Prize Lecture”. Deputy Board Chair Prof. Dr Karoly Nikolich will then present the award. The final speaker will be Prof. Dr Ralf Bartenschlager, member of the foundation’s Board of Directors. The academic event celebrating the Chica and Heinz Schaller Award for Biomedical Research is taking place in the Marsilius Kolleg lecture hall, Im Neuenheimer Feld 130.1, starting at 5:30 p.m.
