13. Heinz Maurer Award granted: Center of Experimental and Applied Cutaneous Physiology - Charité

Dr. Silke Lohan receives 13th Heinz Maurer Award

Depiction of the Jury and winners of the 13th Heinz Maurer Award. — f.l.t.r.: Dr. Daniel Rothoeft, Sebapharma GmbH &Co KG, the prize winners Dr. Silke Lohan, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin and Prof. Silvya Stuchi Maria-Engler, University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, as well as Prof. Thomas Ruzicka, Jury of the Heinz Maurer Prize. Photo: Klaus D. Wolf.

Depiction of Dr. Silke Lohan and Prof. Dr. Martina Meinke — f.l.t.r.: The award winner Dr. Silke Lohan and the head of the Center for Experimental and Applied Cutaneous Physiology (CCP) Prof. Dr. Martina Meinke, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin. Photo: Klaus D. Wolf.

The basic scientific research of Prof. Silvya Stuchi Maria-Engler and the clinical research of Dr. Silke Lohan were honored with the Heinz Maurer Award.

Since 1996, the company Sebapharma GmbH & Co. KG has been awarding the Heinz Maurer Award every 2 years. As manufacturer of the medical skin care brand sebamed with the pH value 5.5, Sebapharma promotes progress in dermatological science with the 10,000 euro prize.

Prof. Silvya Stuchi Maria-Engler (University of Sao Paulo) has been honored with the Heinz Maurer Award for basic research. The researcher's study examined changes in reconstructed human epidermis exposed to coarse particulate matter (PM). In addition to reduced cell viability after 48 hours of exposure to higher concentrations, morphological changes such as cytoplasmic vacuolization and a partial loss of epidermal stratification were detectable. In addition, barrier function was shown to be impaired after 24-hour exposure to high doses.*

The Heinz Maurer Award for Clinical Research was awarded to Dr. rer. nat. Silke Lohan for her studies on the redox status in skin and blood in smokers and non-smokers. The scientist from Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin was able to show that the skin-based (cutaneous) antioxidant system of smokers differs fundamentally from that of non-smokers. In general, this study showed that the endogenous and exogenous antioxidant defense systems are mutually dependent and both are stressed in the reduction of oxidative stress.**

*DS Hieda et al., Journal of Investigative Dermatology, 140 (12), 2343-2352, 2020.
**SB Lohan et al., Antioxidants, 9 (6):537, 2020.