Microbiologist Professor Sebastian E. Winter from the University of California, Davis, USA, has been awarded the Pettenkofer Prize 2023 for his groundbreaking work in the field of “The gut microbiome – from innovative functional analysis to interventions”. The award ceremony took place on 16.10.2023 in a ceremony at the City Hall. The renowned Pettenkofer Prize is awarded annually by the Pettenkofer Foundation. In his lecture, the prize winner described how pathogenic bacteria and the bacteria of the physiological intestinal microbiota (“normal intestinal flora”) interact with the host organism and also with each other, exchanging important metabolic products or competing for them. With his fundamental work, which elegantly combines methods of microbiology, genetics and biochemistry, Winter has elucidated essential contributions to the understanding of the processes within the intestinal microbiota. His research results in new approaches for the therapy and prevention of inflammatory bowel diseases.
The award ceremony and the prize money of 5,000 euros were sponsored by Roche Diagnostics Deutschland GmbH. The Pettenkofer Foundation serves to promote science and research in the field of scientific and practical hygiene and medical microbiology and virology.
