Dr. Jakob Kather Awarded the 2021 Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Prize
Dr. med. Jakob Nikolas Kather, physician and scientist from the Department of Gastroenterology, Metabolic Diseases, and Internal Intensive Medicine at Uniklinik RWTH Aachen, is one of ten young researchers to be awarded this year's prestigious Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Prize. Dr. Kather will receive the award, which includes 20,000 euros in prize money, for his outstanding work and innovative research achievements in digitalization and artificial intelligence in medicine. Due to the current situation, the award ceremony will be held as a virtual event on May 4, 2021.
The prize is named after the physicist and former President of the German Research Foundation (DFG) and gives young researchers recognition and a further incentive for outstanding work. The prize is not intended as an appreciation of the dissertation alone; rather, the prize winners have already developed an independent scientific profile after completing their doctorate.
This year, the German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the DFG will award the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Prize for the 44th time. The prize is funded by the BMBF.
Dr. Kather’s Research Work
The renowned physician and scientist conducts research in the new area of computer-based methods in clinical imaging. The results of his work help to further develop the evaluation and interpretation of complex image data and thus improve diagnostic and treatment approaches, particularly in oncology, for example regarding the prevention of colon cancer. Dr. Kather is thus one of the few researchers and physicians who have been able to develop computer science technical approaches as highly recognized contributions to medicine. He acquired the necessary knowledge base for this in a Master's degree in medical physics, which he completed alongside his medical studies. The findings of the research group led by Dr. Kather at Uniklinik RWTH Aachen have been published in high-ranking journals. He has also been a member of the “Junges Kolleg” of the North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences, Humanities and the Arts since 2019.
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