Holger Gerhardt, group leader at the Cancer Research UK London Research Institute (LRI), has been named as a recipient of the 2008 Lister Research Prize Award. Holger will be a Lister Research Prize Fellow for five years and be awarded £200,000 to spend over this period. The Lister Institute is one of the most prestigious and oldest science funding charities in the UK.
Holger's Vascular Biology group, located in the Institute's Lincoln's Inn Fields laboratories, investigates how growth factors (especially PDGF-B) control many developmental processes to maintain function throughout adulthood. Holger is delighted to receive the award and have the work that is carried out by his group recognised by an external review body: "External evaluation is very important in order to develop a good sense of whether our research is on track and of interest to a wider scientific community," and of the positive reflection on the LRI as a whole "The prestigious prizes received again and again by many at the LRI at all levels of their career are a real testimony to the organisation and the quality of the scientific environment. A big thank you to everybody for their interaction and support!"
Holger joined the LRI in mid-2004 and has already had his scientific achievement recognized in October 2007, when he was awarded the EMBO Young Investigators Programme Prize; this second award within a year is a great achievement and the positive impact on the lab can only lead on to greater scientific advancement.
