THE 2012 LOUIS-JEANTET PRIZE-WINNERS
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The 2012 LOUIS-JEANTET PRIZE-WINNERS are the German specialist in systems biology Matthias MANN, Director of the Department of Proteomics and Signal Transduction at the Max-Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Martinsried, and the British biologist Fiona POWRIE, Sidney Truelove Professor of Gastroenterology at the University of Oxford and Head of the Experimental Medicine Division of the Nuffield Department of Medicine at the John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford.
THE PRIZE-WINNERS are conducting fundamental biological research which is expected to be of considerable significance for medicine.
Matthias MANN is awarded the 2012 Louis-Jeantet Prize for medicine for his work on developments in mass spectrometry that have revolutionised the analysis of proteins and of their functions.
The German researcher pioneered the use of mass spectrometry for the extremely precise study of proteins and their interactions. He has thus contributed to the emergence of a new field of research, namely proteomics. His work has significant therapeutic implications, as it permits the quantitative analysis of cancerous tumours that could improve the diagnosis and treatment of these diseases.
Matthias MANN will use the prize money to continue to apply proteomics to high precision analysis of cancerous tumours.
Fiona POWRIE is awarded the 2012 Louis-Jeantet Prize for medicine for her work on the interactions between the bacterial intestinal flora and the immune system.
The British biologist has shown why the immune system, the purpose of which is to defend the organism against pathogenic microorganisms, does not attack the numerous beneficial bacteria which inhabit the intestinal tract. Her work is opening up new perspectives for the treatment of chronic intestinal inflammatory diseases.
Fiona POWRIE will use the prize money to continue her research into the interactions between the immune system and intestinal flora.
The journal 
EMBO Molecular Medicine features special contributions by the prize-winners and sponsors the Louis-Jeantet prize-winners' Lectures at The EMBO Meeting.
THE AWARD CEREMONY was held on Thursday April 19, 2012, in Geneva (Switzerland).
The journal 
EMBO Molecular Medicine features special contributions by the prize-winners (Vol. 4, Issue 2, February 2012).
The EMBO Meeting (Nice, 22-25 September, 2012) hosts the 2012 Louis-Jeantet Prize Lectures.
Video on Matthias Mann