The Hopp Children’s Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ) is a joint institution of the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg University Hospital (UKHD) and the University of Heidelberg (Uni HD).
"At the Hopp Children's Cancer Center, Prof. Dr. Stefan Pfister has contributed greatly to fundamentally changing the diagnosis and therapy of children and adults with brain tumors. Using artificial intelligence, he has developed methods with which tumors can be molecularly classified much more precisely on the basis of their epigenetic properties. The new therapeutic options uncovered by his work are the subject of numerous ongoing clinical trials, giving hope for more effective cancer treatments," said Science Minister Petra Olschowski, acknowledging Stefan Pfister's outstanding contributions to the fight against childhood brain tumors at the award ceremony in Stuttgart.
Stefan Pfister is regarded as the world's leading specialist in the field. His award-winning research in pediatric oncology has been published in more than 450 scientific publications and has made a decisive contribution to improving diagnostics and therapy and thus, the life expectancy of young cancer patients. Among other things, he made a significant contribution to the development of a new classification of brain tumors, which has since found broad acceptance in the World Health Organization (WHO) classification of brain tumors.
"This is a very special award for me and I am very happy about this recognition," Stefan Pfister thanked the minister and the jury. "I would also like to express my sincere thanks to the many colleagues, partners, and supporters who are committed to this particularly vulnerable patient group. Only through excellent interdisciplinary cooperation and the support of all sponsors of KiTZ, DKFZ, the University Hospital and the Medical Faculty of the University of Heidelberg, have we been able to open up regionally initiated diagnosis and treatment services for children with cancer throughout Germany and worldwide. I hope we will make a lot more progress in the future in applying scientific achievements for the benefit of our patients."
He received his PhD in molecular biology from the University of Tübingen in 2002 and his clinical training at the University Hospitals of Mannheim and Heidelberg. His early scientific career included research at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute at Harvard Medical School in Boston. In the course of his postdoctoral work in the Molecular Genetics Division at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), he specialized in research on brain tumor types in children, for whose treatment there are still hardly any modern cancer drugs and other innovative therapeutic approaches.
"While most blood cancers in children and adolescents are often well curable, cures for brain tumor cures as well as for many solid tumors are stagnating. In the event of a relapse, the chances are even less than 20 percent," explains the 48-year-old pediatrician and scientist. He is particularly committed to ensuring that promising research results are clinically tested, so that children and adolescents first receive a precise diagnosis and, based on this, individually tailored cancer therapies.
With this goal in mind, he initiated the founding of the Hopp Children's Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ) in 2016, the first institution in Germany combining treatment and research on childhood cancer under one roof. Stefan Pfister is one of the three directors of the KiTZ, as well as head of the department of pediatric neurooncology at the DKFZ since 2012, and is a professor at the Heidelberg Medical Faculty and a pediatric oncologist at Heidelberg University Hospital (UKHD). He also takes leading roles in major European research initiatives to provide innovative cancer therapies to children with cancer. His numerous scientific awards include the German Cancer Prize in 2013 and the Léopold Griffuel Award in 2021. Furthermore, he was elected as a member of the National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina in 2020 and a member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) in 2022.
"We are very pleased about this high-ranking award for Stefan Pfister and congratulate him very warmly on this success. As a scientist at the DKFZ and pediatric oncologist at the UKHD, he has made a significant contribution to enabling children with cancer in Germany to benefit from modern cancer research. He is one of the most important pioneers for future-oriented treatment that is adapted to each individual child," said Michael Baumann, Chairman of the Board of DKFZ, congratulating Stefan Pfister on the special tribute.
"In a groundbreaking way, Stefan Pfister combines research and medical care and constantly sets himself new tasks to help young patients in the best possible way. And the need is great, because unlike in adult oncology, there is often a lack of innovative treatment options for children. We warmly congratulate Stefan Pfister on the well-deserved State Research Award for Applied Research and wish him all the best and continued success," said Hans-Georg Kräusslich, Dean of Heidelberg University.
The State Research Award recognizes the scientific achievements of two outstanding researchers from a wide range of disciplines every two years. The award for top achievements in basic research and applied research is endowed with 100,000 Euros each. This year's award for basic research goes to physicist Anke-Susanne Müller from KIT Karlsruhe.
About the State Research Prize
The Ministry of Science, Research, and the Arts has been awarding the Baden-Württemberg Research Prize in cooperation with the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences since 1989. With the prize, Baden-Württemberg has honored outstanding scientific achievements in all disciplines since 1989 and is awarded every two years. Previous award winners have come from a wide range of fields - from biology to philology to finance. As the most highly endowed research prize in a German state, 100,000 euros are awarded to one researcher in basic research and one in applied research.
