For His Findings on Cellu­lar Powerhouses

Hector Fellow Nikolaus Pfanner, a physi­cian and biochemist from the Univer­sity of Freiburg, has made funda­men­tal contri­bu­tions to our under­stand­ing of the devel­op­ment and struc­ture of cellu­lar power­houses (mitochon­dria). He was admit­ted to the Accad­e­mia Nazionale dei Lincei in Rome in Novem­ber 2025 for it. The Accad­e­mia dei Lincei is Italy‘s national academy of sciences. Founded in 1603, it is the world’s oldest academy of sciences. 

Nikolaus Pfanner was also awarded the Walter Neupert Medal. Named after Munich-based cell biolo­gist and biochemist Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Walter Neupert, the medal is awarded to outstand­ing scien­tists in the fields of cell biology, biochem­istry, and medicine.

Nikolaus Pfanner is consid­ered a pioneer in mitochon­dr­ial research. Together with his research team, he was the first in the world to decipher the compo­si­tion of an entire cell organelle and showed that mitochon­dria consist of more than 1,000 differ­ent proteins.