Sara Wickström Awarded €1 Million Körber Prize

Cell biologist Sara Wickström, Director at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Biomedicine and a new Principal Investigator joining the TRR 332 consortium for its second funding period, has been awarded the prestigious €1 million Körber European Science Prize. 

She received the honour for her pioneering discovery of how cells sense physical forces — such as pressure and stretching — and relay these signals all the way to their DNA, switching genes on or off. First uncovered in 2016, the breakthrough challenged the long-held view that cells are controlled mainly by genes and chemical signals, and opened a new field of research with potential applications in cancer, organ fibrosis, and age-related diseases.

"Sara Wickström has changed the way we think about cells," said Nobel laureate Edvard Moser, Chair of the Körber Prize Committee for the Life Sciences. With the funding, Wickström now plans to investigate how scarring in organs such as the skin, lungs, and kidneys can be prevented or treated.

The entire TRR 332 community warmly welcomes Sara Wickström and congratulates her on this outstanding recognition.