The Foundation awards every year a Prize to honour personalities in Switzerland and abroad who have distinguished themselves in a particular way in certain fields of medical research.
As a rule the Prize is awarded between September 1 and December 31 of every year. The Board of Foundation is responsible for the adjudication; if necessary, it may consult the opinion of independent experts.
The next price ceremony will take place on Friday, 19 November 2021.
Since 1974, the Golden Book of the Foundation has honoured the prize winners with a page bearing their original signatures. Here we show examples of the pages of the first two prize winners and two more recent prize winners: The Golden Book
Cloëtta Prize 2020 awarded to researchers from Basel and Bern
The Professor Dr Max Cloëtta Foundation awarded the 2020 Cloëtta Prize again to two prestigious scientists. Professor Nadia Mercader Huber, Professor at the University of Bern and Professor Mohamed Bentires-Alj, Professor at the University and University Hospital of Basel each received the scientific prize remunerated with 50,000 Swiss francs.
Nadia Mercader Huber investigates the cellular and molecular mechanisms of heart development and regeneration. In contrast to adult mammals, and thus also humans, zebrafish have the ability to regenerate their heart after an injury. Finding out how this natural regeneration process is triggered and how it is controlled is one of her main research interests. The results of Nadia Mercader’s group have, among other things, contributed to identifying the role of fibrosis in the regeneration of the heart muscle. A deeper understanding of these mechanisms may lead to new approaches to support tissue regeneration also in mammals.
Mohamed Bentires-Alj is honoured for his ground-breaking research in the field of breast cancer. He and his team are investigating the molecular and cellular causes of tumor heterogeneity and the consequences for metastasis formation and resistance to therapy. Together with clinicians, they have developed a breast cancer personalized treatment program. The results may pave the way for new therapies. As the founder and president of the European Network for Breast Development and Cancer (www.enbdc.org), Mohamed Bentires-Alj fosters global interactions between labs worldwide. As a co-founder of the Basel Breast Consortium (www.BaselBC.org), he is committed to promoting local basic, clinical, and translational interdisciplinary research projects in Switzerland and neighbouring cities.
The video of the prize ceremony can be viewed HERE.
Pictures of the very special award ceremony 2020:
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- left to right: Momo Bentires-Alj, Nadia Mercader Huber, Fritjof Helmchen
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- Signing of the Foundation’s Golden Book
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- Laudatio by Prof. Lukas Sommer
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- Empty ranks in the beautiful historic auditorium whilst guests attend via Zoom
Cloëtta prize winners:
