October 13, 2022: Dr Luca Bertzbach receives prize of the Annelise-und-Curt-Hoehner-Foundation 2022
Thursday, 13. October 2022
Dr Luca Bertzbach was awarded by DVG President Prof. Dr Dr h.c. Martin Kramer with the prize of the Annelise-and-Curt-Höhner-Foundation. © Carmen Körner & Cynthia Ruf / DVG
Veterinarian Dr Luca Bertzbach has been working as a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Viral Transformation since April 2021 and conducts research at LIV on various aspects of human adenovirus biology, viral replication compartments and adenovirus-mediated cell transformation.
He received the prize from the Annelise-and-Curt-Hoehner-Foundation for his research achievements to date. A particular focus of his work to date has been the oncogenic avian alphaherpesvirus, also known as Marek's disease virus (MDV). Here he investigated the transcriptome and proteome in the primary target cells of MDV, researched basic mechanisms of tumourigenesis and contributed to the development of antiviral therapies based on artemisinin. In addition, during his time at the Institute of Virology at the Free University of Berlin, he researched new therapeutic and prophylactic options for SARS-CoV-2 as well as state-of-the-art COVID-19 animal models.
His PhD thesis "Marek`s disease virus-host interplay: novel insights into lymphocyte infections of an oncogenic avian herpesvirus", which was awarded with the PhD Prize of the German Society for Virology, deserves also special mention. Here, he dealt with the role of B cells in the pathogenesis of Marek`s disease and made a fundamental contribution to understanding the MDV replication cycle in the host.
The purpose of the Annelise-and-Curt-Hoehner-Foundation is to honour outstanding scientific achievements in the field of research in veterinary medicine and is administered in trust by the German Veterinary Medical Society.
The LIV warmly congratulates Dr Luca Bertzbach on this success!