The 2022 winners are Aukera Therapeutics with "Unleashing the therapeutic potential of mTOR inhibition". Cell growth and proliferation (increase in cell number) in the human body are controlled by the protein mTOR. mTOR works in two different forms: mTOR complex 1 and mTOR complex 2. Cancer cells are generally characterized by increased cell growth and proliferation, and approximately 70 % of all cancers show increased mTOR complex 1 activity. In addition, certain neurological disorders show upregulation of mTOR complex 1 signaling. Aukera Therapeutics is developing a unique class of drugs that can selectively and safely reduce the activity of mTOR complex 1.

This year we also gave Round Table Antibiotics an honorary award in recognition of their social commitment.

This year's winner is Daniel Hauke with his research on paranoid schizophrenia. We are proud to support Daniel in this area by developing an app for early diagnosis and faster medication discovery.

Schizophrenia is a serious psychiatric illness that affects millions of people worldwide (World Health Organization). Persecution thoughts are a particularly common symptom that occurs in around 70% of all first-time patients (Freeman & Garety, 2014) and is a particularly stressful symptom for those affected. At present, however, the treatment of such symptoms is tedious and it can take several months to find the right medicament, as there are no valid predictors for the success of various drugs. The goal of our research is to develop computer-aided tests for clinicians that help predict the success of medication or potential side effects, in order to significantly shorten the time it takes to find an effective medication for a patient and to adapt the medical treatment to the individual patient. We are also testing whether these computer-assisted tests can be used beforehand to predict whether patients who are at increased risk of schizophrenia will actually get it.