The Neuro-Oncology Award (focus on clinical research) – worth €15,000 – was awarded to PD Dr Philipp Karschnia, MSc, Neurosurgery Clinic and Polyclinic, University Hospital Erlangen, for his project ‘Transnational studies to characterise the infiltration zone for the personalised surgical treatment of glioblastomas’.
The Neuro-Oncology Award (focus on basic research) – worth €15,000 – went to Mr Varun Venkataramani, M.D., Ph.D., University Clinic Heidelberg, Department of Neurology, Im Neuenheimer Feld 350, 69120 Heidelberg, for a project entitled ‘Disconnection of multicellular tumour networks’.
The awards will be presented at the NOA conference in Freiburg on 19–20 September 2025.
The Neuroregeneration Award, worth €10,000, was presented to Ms Alicia Weier, a doctoral student at the Institute of Anatomy, Chair of Neuroanatomy at the University Hospital Bonn. The award supports her project ‘The influence of muscularis macrophages on the gut-brain axis in the development and maintenance of multiple sclerosis’.
The award ceremony is scheduled to take place during the DGNN conference from 25 to 27 September 2025 at the University Hospital in Frankfurt.
The 2024 Neurooncology Award was presented to Dr Abigail Suwala for the research project ‘Using nanopore sequencing to identify alternative transcripts in high-grade IDH-mutant astrocytomas’ (endowment 20,000 euros).
The award was presented at the annual meeting of the Neurooncological Working Group of the German Cancer Society in Berlin (chaired by Prof. Dr Capper) on 10 September 2024.
The laudatory speech was held by Prof Capper/Cologne.
Prof Capper, Dr Sulawa, Dr Assmus (from left to right)
The Sibylle Assmus 2024 Foundation Prize for Neuroregeneration – endowment 10,000 euros – was awarded to PD Dr Marc Rüwe with the working group Prof. Silvan Klein, Prof. Alexandra Anker, M.Sc. Andreas Eigenberger, Dr phil. Katharina Rosengarth, Dr Daniel Deuter, Prof. Dr rer. biol. hum. Claudia Fellner and Dr Sebastian Frank, Department of Plastic, Hand and Reconstructive Surgery at the University of Regensburg under the direction of Prof Dr Dr Lukas Prantl.
The research project ‘Evaluation of an innovative method for quantifying changes in finger representation in the sensory cortex during the course of nerve regeneration using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)’ was supported.
The award ceremony took place during the annual meeting of the NervClub in Bad Saarow. The laudatory speech was given by Prof Pham/Würzburg.
(from left to right) Dr Assmus, PD Dr Rüwe, Prof Dr Klein, Prof Dr Pham
The 2023 Neurooncology Award was presented to Dr Vidhya Madapusi Ravi from the Department of Neurosurgery at Freiburg University Hospital for her project CRYopreservation Of Human Brain SectioNs (CRYONS) – endowment 20,000 euros.
The award was presented at the 2024 Annual Meeting of the Neurooncological Working Group of the German Cancer Society in Berlin (chaired by Prof. Dr Capper) on 10 September 2024.
The laudatory speech was held by Prof. Goldbrunner/Berlin.
Dr. Assmus, Dr. Ravi, Prof. Goldbrunner (v.l.n.r.)
The 2023 Neuroregeneration/Neuroplasticity Award was presented to Ms Dasha Elena Nelidova PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow (Translation and Clinical Development) from the Institute of Molecular and Clinical Ophthalmology Basel (IOB)/ Switzerland for her project ‘Restoring vision by near-infrared light sensors’ – endowment 10,000 euros.
The award was presented at the annual conference of the German Society for Neuropathology and Neuroanatomy in Regensburg (chaired by Prof. Dr Riemenschneider) on 10 September 2024.
The laudatory speech was held by Prof Riemenschneider/Regensburg
Dr Assmus, Dr Nelidova, Prof Riemenschneider (from left to right)
The 2022 Award for Neurooncology of the Sibylle Assmus Foundation – endowment 10,000 euros – was awarded at the annual meeting of the Neurooncology Working Group of the German Cancer Society in Heidelberg (headed by Prof. Dr. Wick) on 10 November 2022 to Prof. Dr. med. Dr. med. Phillip Vollmuth from the Neuroradiology Department of the Neurological University Hospital Heidelberg for his project “Clinical translation of 2-hydroxyglutarate magnetic resonance spectroscopy (2-HG MRS) based imaging biomarkers in IDH-mutant gliomas”.
Dr Brugnara, subgroup leader of the working group, accepted the certificate.
The laudation was held by Prof. Dr. Reifenberger/Düsseldorf.
(from left to right: Prof. Reifenberger, Dr. Brugnara, representing the award winner, Dr. Assmus, Prof Wick)
The 2021 Neurooncology Award of the Sibylle Assmus Foundation – endowment 10,000 euros – was awarded on the occasion of the annual meeting of the Neurooncology Working Group of the German Cancer Society in Frankfurt (headed by Prof. Dr. Steinbach) on 7 October 2021 to Dr. med. Tareq Juratli from the Neurosurgical University Hospital Dresden (headed by Prof. Schackert) for his project “Age determination of olfactory groove meningiomas by means of C14 radiocarbon dating in correlation with the molecular tumour profile”.
The laudation was held by Prof. Dr. Goldbrunner/Cologne.
Dr. Assmus, PD Dr. Juratli, Prof. Dr. Steinbach
The 2020 Sibylle Assmus Foundation prize for Neurooncology recognizes PD Dr. med. Volker Neuschmelting, head of department at the Neurosurgical University Hospital in Cologne, Germany, for his project ‘Short wave infrared-supported resection of brain metastases with the aid of indocyanin green accumulated over a longer term’.
The award ceremony was postponed and will be held during the annual NOA meeting scheduled for March of 2021 due to the Corona pandemic.
Prof. Dr. Steinbach, PD Dr. Neuschmelting, Dr. Assmus
The 2019 prize for neuro-oncology of the Sibylle Assmus Foundation in the amount of € 10,000 was awarded to Dr. Lukas Bunse, Clinic for Neurology at the University Hospital Mannheim (Director Prof. Dr. Platten) and Clinical Cooperative Unit for Neuroimmunology and Immunology of Brain Cancer of the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ).
Dr. Bunse was recognized for his outstanding work in the field of brain cancer immunology and will be supported in the project “Syngeneic human astrocytoma avatar mouse models to explore combinatorial immunotherapies”. The award ceremony was held during the 21st annual meeting of the Neuro – Oncological Working Group of the German Cancer Society in Mannheim on May 23rd & 24th 2019.
The laudatory speech was held by Prof. Dr. Wick, Heidelberg.
below from left to right: Dr. Hans Assmus, Dr. Anne Assmus, PD Dr. Lukas Bunse, Prof. Dr. Wick; picture: Claudia Koch
The 2018 Sibylle Assmus Foundation Prize for outstanding neuro-oncological research was awarded to Dr. Felix Sahm, Department for Neuropathology of the University Hospital Heidelberg (under Prof. Dr. v. Deimling).
The award ceremony was held during the 20th annual meeting of the neurooncological working group (NOA) of the German Cancer Society on May 3rd and 4th 2018 in Cologne, led by Prof. Dr. Goldbrunner. The award 10.000 € will support his project “Detection of mutant AKT1E17K DNA in peripheral blood of meningioma patients”.
Prof. Dr. Reifenberger/Cologne held the laudatory speech.
from left to right: Dr. Assmus, PD Dr. Felix Sahm, Prof. Dr. Reifenberger
The 2017 prize for neuro-oncology of the Sibylle Assmus Foundation in the amount of € 7,500 was awarded on September 15, 2017 during the annual meeting of the Neuro -Oncological Working Group of the German Cancer Society in Munich (led by Prof. Dr. Combs) to Dr. med. Marc Remke, Department of Child Oncology, Hematology and Clinical Immunology, Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf (Director Prof. Dr. A. Borkhardt), Junior Research Group “Pediatric Neuro-Oncogenomics” in the German Consortium for Translational Cancer Research for the project “Identification and functional characterization of the primary cilium in the pathogenesis of the atypical teratoid / rhabdoid tumor “.
The laudatory speech was held by Prof. Winkler, Heidelberg.
From left to right: Prof. Winkler, Dr. Remke, Prof. Combs, Dr. Assmus
The 2016 prize for neuro-oncology of the Sibylle Assmus Foundation in the amount of 7,500 € was awarded to Dr. med Kristian W. Pajtler (Paediatrische Neuroonkologie, German Cancer Research Center Heidelberg) on June 23, 2016, on the occasion of the annual meeting of the Neuro-Oncological Working Group of the German Cancer Society (NOA) in Regensburg for his project “Identification and therapeutic use of regulatory DNA elements in ependymomas”.
The laudatory speech was held by Prof. Dr. M. J. Riemenschneider, Regensburg, Germany.
Prof. Riemenschneider, Dr. Pajtler, Prof. Wick (from left to right)
The 2015 prize for neuro-oncology of the Sibylle Assmus Foundation – in the amount of 7,500 € – was presented by Dr. W. Wick on June 18, 2015, at the annual meeting of the neuro-oncological Working Group of the German Cancer Society in Heidelberg to Dr. rer. nat. Alexander Schulz, working group of Dr. rer. nat. Helen Morrison, Neuro- and Tumorbiology at the Leibniz Institute for Aging Research, Fritz-Lipmann-Institute, Jena, for his project “The development of a protein replacement therapy for the treatment of Schwann cell tumors in the context of a preclinical study on neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2 )”.
The laudatory speech was held by Prof. Dr. C. Mawrin, Magdeburg
Dr. Assmus, Dr. Schulz, Prof. Dr. Wick (from left to right)
The funding prize for neuro-regeneration –in the amount of € 3,000 – was awarded to Dr. med. Lars Toenges, Department of Neurology (Director Prof. Dr. Bähr) at the University Clinic of the Georg August-Zinn University of Göttingen for his project “Therapeutic macroglia modulation by Rho Kinase (ROCK) Inhibition for the promotion of axonal regeneration in Parkinson’s disease”.
The awards ceremony took place on 28th August 2015 in Berlin (headed by Prof. Heppner) on the occasion of the anniversary of the German Society of Neuropathology and Neuroanatomy.
The laudatory speech was held by Prof. Brück, Göttingen
The 2014 prize for neuro-oncology of the Sibylle Assmus Foundation – in the amount of 9,000 € – was awarded on the occasion of the annual meeting of the Neurooncological Working Group of the German Cancer Society in Bonn (Prof. Herrlinger) on 27 June 2014 to Dr. med. Hendrik Witt, Center for Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine (Pediatric Oncology / Director: Prof. Andreas Kulozik) and Department of Pediatric Neuro-Oncology of the DKFZ (Head: Prof. Stefan Pfister), and Dr. med. Markus Weiler, Clinical Cooperation Unit Neuro-Oncology of the DKFZ and Neuro-Oncoology Department of the University Hospital Heidelberg (Director: Prof. Wolfgang Wick).
The prize recognized the projects “Identification of genetic and epigenetic causes of recurrent brain tumors” (Dr. Witt) and “Molecular Mechanisms of Radiotherapy and Antiangiogenesis-Induced Invasivity in Glioblastoma” (Dr. Weiler).
The laudatory speechs for Dr. Witt and Dr. Weiler were held by Prof. Joachim Steinbach / Frankfurt and Prof. Michael Weller / Zurich Dr. Weiler presented his own project in a short lecture. Dr. Witt was represented by his former employee Dr. Tsaridis / Bonn, as Dr. Witt was unable to attend due to obligations at an international congress.
The award for neuroregeneration was not awarded in 2014.
Prof. Herrlinger, Dr. Tzaridis (representing Dr. Witt), Dr. Assmus, Dr. Weiler, Prof. Weller (from left to right)
Mrs. Priv.-Doz. Dr. Dorothee Wiewrodt, Department of Neurgery at the Universitätsklinikum Münster (Director Prof. Dr. W. Stummer), and their working group received a recognition award of € 1,000 for the successful implementation of the pilot project “Psychooncological Intervention for Brain Tumor Patients”.
The 2013 prize for Neuro-oncology of the Foundation Sibylle Assmus – in the amount of 7,500 € – was presented on the occasion of the annual meeting of the Neurooncological Working Group of the German Cancer Society in Münster / Westf. (Head of Prof. Stummer) on July 5, 2013 to Dr. med. Christiane Brigitte Knobbe-Thomsen, Institute of Neuropathology Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf (Director Prof. Reifenberger).
The prize recognized the project “Identification and evaluation of hypermethylated genes in IDH1 / IDH2 mutant gliomas”.
Prof. Goldbrunner / Cologne held the laudatory speech.
Prof. Goldbrunner, Fr. Dr. Knobbe-Thomsen, Dr. Assmus, Prof. Reifenberger (from left to right)
The 2013 Prize for neuro-regeneration – in the amount of € 3,000 – was awarded to Mr. Marc Christian Thier, Institute for Reconstructive Neurobiology, University of Bonn.
It recognizes the project he has undertaken that deals with the reprogramming of human somatic cells into neural precursor cells for use in neuroregenerative cell replacement therapy.
The prize was awarded during the annual meeting of the German Society of Neuropathology and Neuroanatomy in Göttingen on September 13th 2013.
The laudatory speech was held by Prof. Reifenberger / Düsseldorf
Dr. Assmus, Dr. Thier, Prof. Reifenberger (from left to right)
The 2012 prize for Neuro-oncology (in the amount of € 7,500) was awarded to Dr. med. Christiane Opitz, Department of neuro-oncology of the National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT) Heidelberg for her research project “Identification of biomarkers for endogenous activation of the arylhydrocarbon receptor in malignant gliomas”.
The award ceremony took place on the occasion of the 14th annual meeting of the German Cancer Society’s Neurooncological Working Group (NOA) under the leadership of Prof. Goldbrunner on 11 May 2012 in Cologne.
The laudatory speech was held by Prof. Reifenberger / Düsseldorf
Dr. Assmus, Dr. Opitz
The funding prize for neuroregeneration was not awarded in 2012.
The 2011 prize for neuro-oncology of the Foundation Sibylle Assmus – in the amount of 10,000 € – was presented on the occasion of the annual meeting of the German Cancer Society’s Neurooncological Working Group (NOA) under the leadership of Prof. Steinbach on June 24 in Frankfurt to Prof. Dr. med. Markus Johannes Riemenschneider, Neuropathological Institute of the University of Regensburg ), in recognition of the project »Investigations on the role of novel epigenetic changes in the formation of the chemotherapeutic resistance of malignant gliomas«.
The laudatory speech was held by Prof. Plate / Frankfurt
Prof. Dr. med. Markus Johannes Riemenschneider, Dr. Assmus
The Sibylle-Assmus-Förderpreis 2011 for Neuro-regeneration – in the amount of € 5,000 – was presented on the occasion of the annual meeting of the NervClub in Regensburg on April 2 to Dr. Petra Henrich-Noack, Head of the Neurobiology Laboratory of the Institute of Medical Psychology of the Medical Faculty of the Otto-von-Guericke-University Magdeburg http://www.imp.ovgu.de/), for the research project “Transorbital AC Stimulation for Functional Restitution of the Optic Nerve”.
Prof. Dr. Matthies / Würzburg held the laudatory speech.
Dr. Petra Henrich-Noack
The 2010 prize for Neuro-oncology of the Sibylle Assmus Foundation – in the amount of € 10,000 – was presented on the occasion of the annual meeting of the German Cancer Society’s Neurooncological Working Group (NOA), headed by Prof. Dr. Grosu on July 2 – 3, 2010 in Freiburg, to PD Dr. med. Frank Winkler, group leader of the Neuro-Oncological Laboratory of the Neurological University Hospital, Munich. Dr. Winkler was recognized for his research in the field of neuro-oncology and the project “The importance of peritumoral angiogenesis for the growth and invasion of malignant gliomas”.
The laudatory speech was held by Prof. Dr. Weller / Zurich
PD Dr. Winkler, Dr. Assmus
The 2010 prize for the new generation of the Sibylle Assmus Foundation in cooperation with the NervClub (endowment € 5,000) was awarded to PD Dr. med. vet. Kirsten Haastert-Talini, Institute for Neuroanatomy at the Hanover Medical University), for her project “Evaluation of the effect of a peptide fragment of the C3bot protein on the regeneration of peripheral nerves”.
The prize was awarded on the occasion of the seventh section of the Peripheral Nerves of the German Society of Neurosurgery on October 2, 2010 in Oldenburg (Prof. Dr. Thomas Kretschmer).
The laudatory speech was held by Prof. Dr. Gregor Antoniadis / Günzburg.
Prof. Dr. Antoniadis, Frau Dr. Haastert-Tallini und Dr. Assmus
On the occasion of the anniversary of the German Cancer Society’s Neuro-oncological Working Group (NOA) on June 26th 2009 in Heidelberg under the direction of Prof. Wick, the prize in neuro-oncology of the Sibylle Assmus Foundation was awarded to PD Dr. M. Preusser / Vienna for his project “Analyzing antiangiogenic therapy effect in glioblastoma using susceptibility-weighted MRI at 7 Tesla” and Dr. S. Pfister / Heidelberg for the project “Genome-wide DNA methylation analysis in childhood astrocytomas with oncogenic BRAF activation”.
The laudatory speech for Dr. Preusser held by Prof. Stummer / Münster, and for Dr. Pfister PD Pr. Herold-Mende / Heidelberg.
The 2009 funding prize for research projects in the field of neuro-regeneration in cooperation with the NervClub was awarded for the first time on the occasion of the Sectional Meeting of the Pain and Peripheral Nerves of the DGNC on 20/21 February 2009 in Seesen / Harz under the leadership of Prof. R. Becker.
Award winner was Dr. med. Ahmet Bozkurt (Institute of Neuropathology and Clinic for Plastic and Hand Surgery, RWTH Aachen University). His project “Use of adult mesenchymal precursor cells and bioartificial microstructured nerve guide rails for the regeneration of peripheral nerves” was recognized with € 5,000.
The Sibylle Assmus Foundation awarded two prizes in the field of neuro-oncology in 2008, each of which in the amount of € 7,000.
This year’s prize winners were Dr. Patrick Roth from the Neurological Clinic of the University Hospital Zurich and Dr. Christian Schichor, working at the Neurgery Clinic of Maximilians University Munich-Großhadern.
Dr. Roth was recognized for his project “Cathepsin B-mediated immune tolerance in differentiated cells and tumor stem cells of malignant gliomas”. Dr. Schichor received the award for his project “Molecular biological characterization of mesenchymal stem cells in interaction with malignant gliomas”.
The award ceremony took place within the framework of the anniversary of the Neuroscience Working Group (NOA) of the German
The 2007 prize was awarded during the 9th anniversary meeting of the “Neuro-oncological Working Community” (NOA) of the German Cancer Society on 11th May 2007 in the “Alte Aula” of the University of Marburg (Head: Prof. Dr. Rita Engenhart- Cabillic).
Dr. Christine Dictus from the Neurosurgical University Clinic Heidelberg was awarded the prize for the project “The importance of asymmetric division for the neoplastic transformation of adult neural stem cells”.
Dr. Wolfgang Hartmann received the funding award for the project “Targeted therapy approach against the IGF signal system in medulloblastomas using a newly developed animal model”.
The Sibylle Assmus Prize for Neuro-oncology 2006 – in the amount of € 10,000 – was presented in the context of the 8th anniversary of the Neuro-oncological Working Community (NOA) in the German Cancer Society on 26.10.06 in Regensburg.
PD Dr. Walter Stummer, Department of Neurosurgery, Düsseldorf, was recognized for his research project “MGMT-promoter methylation status within the context of concomitant radiochemotherapy with temozolomide in patients with malignant gliomas: what effect has the extent of resection?”.
After an introduction by the chairman Prof. Dr. Bogdahn, Prof. Dr. Schackert, director of the Neurosurgery University Clinic Dresden, held the laudatory speech.
On September 29, 2005, the Sibylle Assmus Award 2005 (in the amount of €10,000) was presented on the occasion of the 7th annual meeting of the German Cancer Society’s Neurooncological Working Group (NOA) in Leipzig
PD Dr. Wolfgang Wick, Department of General Neurology at the University of Tübingen, was recognized for his project titled “Characterization of glioblastoma stem cells”.
After an introduction by Prof. Dr. M. Weller, Director of the Neurological University Clinic of Tübingen and Chairman of the Board of NOA, Prof. Dr. N. Klug, Director of the Neurosurgery University Clinic of Cologne, gave the laudatory speech.
On November 24, 2004, in the framework of a study conducted by Prof. Prof. Dr. Ottmar D. Wiestler, Chairman and Scientific Director of the German Cancer Research Center Heidelberg, awarded the Sibylle-Assmus-Prize 2004 (in the amount of € 10.000) to Dr. Christel Herold-Mende, Neuro-surgery University Clinic Heidelberg, and Dr. Bernhard Radlwimmer, Department of Molecular Genetics of the German Cancer Research Center Heidelberg for the cooperation project “Identification of clinically relevant markers in stem cell populations of malignant brain tumors”.
The laudatory speech was held by Prof. Dr. Werner Hacke, Director of the Neurological University Clinic Heidelberg and Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Sibylle Assmus Foundation.
