Dr. Katja Dettmer-Wilde (Metabodefense) receives Gerhard Hesse Prize

Scientific award for project leader in the Bavarian research network “New strategies against multi-resistant pathogens by means of digital networking” bayresq.net

At Analytica, the world’s leading trade fair for laboratory technology, analytics and biotechnology, Dr. Katja Dettmer-Wilde received the Gerhard Hesse Prize of the German Chemical Society (GDCh) on June 21, 2022.

As project leader in the Bavarian research network “New strategies against multi-resistant pathogens by means of digital networking” bayresq.net, Dr. Dettmer-Wilde studies the metabolism of endogenous macrophages in humans, in particular the formation of antimicrobial metabolites, at the University of Regensburg.

In her keynote lecture at the Analytica conference, Ms. Dettmer-Wilde explained how she investigates the human metabolome using analytical chemistry methods. Many pathophysiological processes are characterized by pronounced metabolic changes. To comprehensively detect these metabolic changes, a combination of different analytical platforms is required. A particularly powerful tool in this regard is mass spectrometry in combination with a separation technique, such as gas or liquid chromatography, which offers high detection sensitivity and enables the structural elucidation of unknown metabolites.

The Gerhard Hesse Prize is awarded by the Separation Science Working Group of the GDCh Analytical Chemistry Division, usually in odd-numbered years, and is endowed with 3.000€. This award recognizes researchers who have made outstanding achievements in the field of analytical separation techniques. It is given in memory of the founding chairman of the former Chromatography Working Group.