Claudia Langenberg wins Helmholtz International Fellow Award

Aug 3 2018

Location: Address Opening Hours: Ticket price: Broadcast content type: Broadcast starts: Broadcast duration: Publication title: Author: Publication type: Publication date: Number of pages: ISBN number: Price: Dr. Claudia Langenberg of the University of Cambridge is one of five scientists to win this year's Helmholtz International Fellow Award. As well as receiving 20,000 euros in prize money, the German doctor and epidemiologist has been invited to undertake a period of research at the Helmholtz Zentrum München.

"Claudia Langenberg is known for her research on genetic causes of insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes and related metabolic disorders," explains Dr. Gabi Kastenmüller, acting head of the Institute of Bioinformatics and Systems Biology. Both she and Professor Annette Peters, Director of the Institute of Epidemiology at the Helmholtz Zentrum München, nominated Claudia Langenberg for the award. "We are already collaborating on the most extensive study to date investigating genetic effects on metabolism and subsequent disease outcomes. We look forward to intensifying and deepening this mutually beneficial cooperation." The handover of the prize in Munich is scheduled for mid-November.

As her name suggests, Claudia Langenberg's roots lie in Germany. Born in Munich, she received a medical degree and a PhD in Medicine from the University of Münster in Northern Germany. After clinical training, she obtained an MSc in Epidemiology from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and a PhD in Epidemiology from University College London. In 2016, she completed specialist training in Public Health and the following year was appointed program leader at the Medical Research Council's Epidemiology Unit at the UniversityofCambridge, where she previously worked and helped to coordinate the EPIC-InterAct study. Currently, she lives in London with her husband and two young daughters.

"Claudia Langenberg's team integrates multi-omic data to better understand genetic factors underlying the risk of type 2 diabetes, which is also a research focus here at the Helmholtz Zentrum München," Annette Peters says. "Much of her work uses large-scale datasets combining international population-based studies. We are now pleased to bring together the relevant expertise across national borders."

The epidemiologist has been involved in more than 250 scientific studies and has published in top-ranking journals. She played a leading role in setting up international consortia such as MAGIC (Meta-Analysis of Glucose and Insulin-related traits Consortium) and COMETS (Consortium of Metabolomics Studies). Claudia Langenberg was Editor-in-Chief of the 'Generation Genome' report of the Chief Medical Officer of England. In 2018, the UK government established the National Genomics Board, tasked with implementing the report's recommendations and restructuring genomic medicine within the National Health Service (NHS) in England.

"I am very honored to receive this distinguished award, which I regard as international recognition of the team's work and achievements. The award provides a stimulus to integrate our research even more closely with that of our scientific colleagues in Munich," says laureate Langenberg. "I look forward to meeting the broader Helmholtz community in November and rediscover Munich, a city I have a very special connection to."