Presentation of Eppendorf Young Investigator Award 2005 in Düsseldorf

This year's science prize awarded by the Hamburg company Eppendorf AG goes to Sweden.

The 2005 award is the 11th research prize awarded by the Hamburg Biotech company to honor outstanding work in biomedical research in Europe. This year, the prize was awarded to Dr. Thomas Helleday (34) from the Arrhenius Laboratory, Stockholm, Sweden. His most recent work on concepts of gene therapy have opened up promising paths for the treatment of certain forms of breast carcinoma through the selective killing of the tumor cells.

Since 1995, a scientific panel headed by Professor Dr. Ernst-Ludwig Winnacker, president of the German Research Foundation has been reponsible for selecting the most deserving work each year. This year there were more than 100 candidates. With this prize, Eppendorf supports young scientists in Europe who are 35 years old or younger.

Dr. Helleday received the prize during a gala dinner attended by over 100 guests from the scientific community and related industry. After opening remarks by Dr. Heinz Gerhard Köhn, Eppendorf’s Board Member for Technology, a speech honoring the achievements of this year’s prize winner was held by Professor Dr. Winnacker.

A summary of the work of Dr. Helleday, as well as a press report and photos of the event can be found under www.eppendorf.com "Eppendorf Awards".

Dr. Thomas Helleday was born in 1971. He studied molecular biology and business management at the University of Stockholm and graduated in 1995. After receiving his doctorate in 1999, Dr. Helleday taught at the Institute for Cancer Studies at the University of Sheffield, UK.

Since 2004, he has been working as "Research Fellow" in the Arrhenius Laboratory at Stockholm University in Sweden as part of the Genetics, Microbiology and Toxicology department.