Vallee Visiting Professors Ivan Dikic (Goethe University Medical School) and Brenda Schulman (Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry) share the 2023 Louis-Jeantet Prize for Medicine for their contributions to our understanding of the functions of ubiquitin and the mechanisms of ubiquitination. The Louis-Jeantet Prize, awarded annually to promote European research, is amongst the most prestigious awards for biomedical research.

Ubiquitin is a small protein which plays a key role in cellular health. When attached to other proteins, it ensures that various processes in our cells occur in the right order. Brenda Schulman and Ivan Đikić were able to uncover key regulatory actions, making significant contributions to the scientific progress in the field. Schulman’s lab revealed the extroardinary “how and when” of the protein ubiquitin. These findings are of crucial importance, as they could be used, for example, as targets for cancer therapies. Đikić’s group showed how ubiquitin affects processes. He spearheaded the concept of ubiquitin serving vastly beyond its originally recognized role in protein degradation, but is also signaling in an astounding number of ways, influencing numerous processes in the body.

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