Univer­sity Medicine Mainz awards Ralf Barten­schlager an honorary doctor­ate for hepati­tis research

On Febru­ary 3, 2022, the Univer­sity Medicine Mainz awarded the Heidel­berg virol­o­gist an honorary doctor­ate. He was honored for his success­ful basic research on the hepati­tis C virus.
In addition to Hector Fellow Ralf Barten­schlager, Christoph Huber received an honorary doctor­ate, and BioNTech founders Özlem Türeci and Uğur Şahin were awarded the Ring of Honor of Mainz Univer­sity Medicine. "With their outstand­ing work, all four have given science recog­ni­tion from the outside and motiva­tion on the inside," said Minis­ter Presi­dent Malu Dreyer, who gave a welcom­ing address at the ceremony at the Staat­sthe­ater Mainz.

The Scien­tific Direc­tor and Dean of the Univer­sity Medical Center Mainz, Ulrich Förster­mann, awarded the four scien­tists with honorary doctor­ates and honorary rings. Ulrich Förster­mann described Profes­sor Bartenschlager's research achieve­ments as a signif­i­cant devel­op­ment in medicine over the past decades. Förster­mann: "His work revolu­tion­ized the treat­ment of hepati­tis C. From a long-term therapy that was only partially success­ful and had many side effects, a short-term therapy devel­oped that was effec­tive and very well toler­ated in almost all patients. An often chronic disease became curable and the elimi­na­tion of the hepati­tis C virus became an achiev­able goal".

Congrat­u­la­tions Ralf Bartenschlager!