News Archive

Zurich. For the 51st time, the Prof. Dr. Max Cloëtta Foundation is presenting its renowned prize for medical research. This year, the prize is awarded for their outstanding research to: Professor Andrea Ablasser, lead researcher in innate immune systems at the EPFL (School of Life Sciences) in Lausanne, and Professor Andrea Alimonti, Director of the Institute of Oncology Research (IOR) in Bellinzona and Professor of Experimental Oncology at the Università della Svizzera italiana (USI) and ETH Zurich.

Andrea Ablasser
Professor Ablasser’s research has been groundbreaking in uncovering how the innate immune system detects and responds to DNA from pathogens. Her work has opened new avenues for the development of therapies aimed at modulating the immune response, offering potential treatments for a variety of diseases.

Recently, her studies have demonstrated how the cGAS-STING DNA-sensing pathway is involved in chronic inflammation and neurodegenerative diseases related to the aging process. These findings could lead to new strategies for combating these conditions.

Andrea Alimonti
The major scientific contributions of Professor Alimonti’s research include the discovery of a therapeutic approach based on the induction of cellular senescence and the immune response against tumors; the identification of an immune cell type, the so-called myeloid-derived suppressor cells, which can promote the progression of prostate cancer and resistance to standard therapies; and the discovery of a novel mechanism of therapy resistance in prostate cancer, involving the gut microbiome. Professor Alimonti’s vision is to develop cutting-edge, innovative treatments for cancer patients. Some of these treatments are currently being tested in clinical trials.

The award ceremony will take place at the EPFL on Friday, November 29, 2024, at 5 pm, at the hall SV 1717, Building SV, EPFL, Station 19, 1015 Lausanne.

Registration:

For mandatory registration, please use the following link https://qrco.de/bfSouR

In 2024, the Prof. Dr. Max Cloëtta Foundation awards the Cloëtta Prize to two prestigious scientists. Andrea Ablasser, leading researcher on innate immune systems at EPFL in Lausanne, and Andrea Alimonti, Director of the Institute of Oncology Research in Bellinzona and Professor of Experimental Oncology at Università della Svizzera italiana and ETH Zurich, each receive the scientific prize remunerated with 50,000 Swiss francs.

The award ceremony is to be held on November 29, 2024, at 5pm at the EPFL.

A comprehensive press release will follow in fall 2024.

The call for applications 2024 for the Medical Research Positions has been issued.

Deadline is 30 June 2024.

You will find all necessary documents here.

The call for applications 2024 for the Clinical Medicine Plus scholarships is now closed.

Deadline was 31 May 2024.

The final selection will take place at the beginning of October 2024. Until then, we kindly ask all who submitted applications for their patience.

In 2023, the Prof. Dr. Max Cloëtta Foundation awards the Cloëtta Prize to two prestigious scientists. Christoph Hess, Professor at the Department of Biomedicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Basel, and Sebastian Jessberger, Professor at the Brain Research Institute at the University of Zurich, each receive the scientific prize remunerated with 50,000 Swiss francs.

The award ceremony was held on November 24, 2023 at the ZLF at the University of Basel. We sincerely thank all who attended this year’s ceremony live or via video transmission! Photos of the award ceremony are available here and the comprehensive press release is available here.

The 2024 award ceremony will take place on 29 November 2024.

Happy birthday!
The Prof. Dr. Max Cloëtta Foundation is celebrating its 50th anniversary!
‘Pushing Frontiers in Medicine’ was the theme of the forward-looking Jubilee Symposium on 28 September 2023 at the Swiss Re Centre for Global Dialogue in Rüschlikon organized to mark the occasion. It was a truly memorable, thought-provoking and festive event that stimulated dialogue between disciplines, boosted and promoted networking, exchange, and interaction!

The videos are available to watch:
Morning Session: Welcome, Greetings & Keynote by Marcel Tanner
Afternoon Session 1: Musical Opening, Talks by Amalio Telenti, Julia Velz, Catherine Burger and Joel Zindel
Afternoon Session 2: Panel discussion & Keynote by Fiona Watt
Afternoon Session 3: Salute to Peter Friedli, Awarding of Cloëtta Jubilee Prize 2023 & Speeches by Prize Winners

The video testimonials which were sprinkled throughout the day are also available to watch:
Christian Lüscher & Maries van den Broek & Lukas Graf & Burkhard Becher & Anita Lüthi & Stergios Tsartsalis & Nadja Mercader & Eleonora Seelig & Heini Murer & Sophie Croizier

The Prof. Dr. Max Cloëtta Foundation awarded the Cloëtta Jubilee Prize 2023, endowed with CHF 250,000 to Prof. Tanja Stadler and Prof. Barbara Treutlein from the Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering at the ETH Zurich in Basel.
This special Jubilee Prize recognizes outstanding achievements of the prize winners in biomedical research and promotes and financially supports their research careers. In accordance with the guidelines, the Prize recognizes two active young researchers who have made outstanding scientific contributions, are currently working at an academic institution in Switzerland and are considered rising stars in medical research.

PD Dr. med. Lucas Boeck, a Research Group Leader at the Department of Biomedicine at the University of Basel, will take up his five-year research position on October 1, 2023. His main research area are chronic respiratory infections, which are often challenging and sometimes impossible to clear. He is particularly interested in bacterial behaviours and their molecular mechanisms underlying antibiotic treatment failures. His team has recently developed methods which allow them to study previously unrecognized characteristics of bacterial survival. By combining clinical studies, novel experimental technologies and computational biology he aims to understand bacteria and find new ways to treat infections effectively.

The Prof. Dr. Max Cloëtta Foundation is to award the 2023 Cloëtta Prize again to two prestigious scientists. Prof. Dr. Christoph Hess, Department of Biomedicine, Faculty of Medicine, University and University Hospital of Basel, and Prof. Dr. Sebastian Jessberger, Brain Research Institute at the University of Zurich, will each receive the scientific prize remunerated with 50,000 Swiss francs.

The award ceremony is to be held on November 24, 2023 at 5pm at the ZLF at the University of Basel.

A comprehensive press release will follow in fall 2023.

The next call for applications 2024 for the “Clinical Medicine Plus” scholarships will start on 1 February 2024.
Deadline: 31 May 2024.

The next call for applications 2024 for the Cloëtta Medical Research Positions will start on 1 March 2024.
Deadline: 30 June 2024.