Scientist Receives Top Award in Physiology and Medicine

MD Anderson News Release February 13, 2015

MD Anderson News Release 02/13/2015

Raghu Kalluri, M.D., Ph.D., chair, cancer biology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, has received a notable scientific award from a top German university. Kalluri was selected for the Jacob-Henle Medal, awarded annually by the Georg-August University in Göttingen, Germany, one of that country’s oldest institutions of higher learning. 

The Jacob-Henle Medal, introduced in 1988, recognizes high-impact scientific achievements in physiology and medicine. Kalluri was honored for his discoveries related to autoimmune and genetic kidney diseases, organ fibrosis and cancer biology. His research has led to new methods of diagnosis of kidney diseases, and identified diagnostic methods and therapy targets for fibrosis and cancer. Kalluri has trained over 70 postdoctoral fellows, and 20 graduate students in his career. The medal was awarded after a one-day symposium to honor the scientific and mentoring career of Dr. Kalluri held on February 6th 2015.

“This very prestigious award is given for truly outstanding, medically relevant scientific achievements,” said Ethan Dmitrovsky, M.D., provost and executive vice president at MD Anderson. “It is no surprise that Dr. Kalluri was selected as he is a highly accomplished scientist. It is an honor well deserved.”

The award is named for Friedrich Gustav Jacob Henle (1809-1885), an anatomist and physiologist who taught at the University of Göttingen. Henle published the first descriptions of the structure and distribution of human epithelial tissue and of the fine structures of the eye and brain including Henle’s loop of the kidney.  His work is considered by many to have laid the foundation for modern pathology.