Minkowski Prize 2026 går till Dr Zach Gerhart-Hines, Center for Basic Metabolic Research, Köpenhamns universitet. Han får den 61:a EASD Minkowski Prize.
Hans forskning handlar framför allt om:
fettvävnadens biologi och energibalans
mitokondrier och metabolism
mekanismer bakom insulinresistens och typ 2-diabetes
samspelet mellan fettvävnad och tarm–hjärna-systemet
nya potentiella behandlingar mot obesitas och typ 2-diabetes.
Prisutdelningen/föreläsningen är i Milano torsdag 1 oktober 2026 kl. 17.30–18.30.
Det som gör Zach Gerhart-Hinessärskilt intressant är att hans forskning ligger i gränslandet mellan grundforskning och framtida behandling av obesitas och typ 2-diabetes.
De viktigaste forskningsområdena
1. Fettvävnad är ett aktivt metaboliskt organ
Han har studerat hur fettceller reglerar hela kroppens energibalans, insulinkänslighet och energiförbrukning – inte bara som ett lager för överskottsenergi.
2. Mitokondrier och insulinresistens
En central del av hans arbete handlar om mitokondriernas funktion i fettvävnad. Han har bland annat visat kopplingar mellan störd mitokondriefunktion i brunt fett och utveckling av insulinresistens.
3. En ny tarm–hjärna–fettvävnad-axel
Det kanske mest uppmärksammade arbetet gäller en NK2R-beroende signalväg. Experimentell aktivering av denna väg har i djurmodeller ökat energiförbrukningen, minskat födointaget, förbättrat insulinkänsligheten och återställt glukoskontrollen.
Det är särskilt intressant eftersom mekanismen potentiellt kan ge viktnedgång och bättre glukoskontroll utan vissa av de tolerabilitetsproblem som förknippas med dagens incretinbaserade behandlingar. Detta är dock fortfarande preklinisk forskning – man ska alltså inte tolka det som en etablerad behandling för patienter.
4. Från akademisk upptäckt till läkemedelsutveckling
Gerhart-Hines var med och grundade Embark Biotech, som utvecklade den nya biologiska vägen mot behandling av obesitas och typ 2-diabetes.
Varför Minkowski-priset är intressant
Priset är avsett för framstående forskning av yngre forskare som bidrar till ny kunskap om diabetes
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The Claude Bernard Prize recognises an individual’s innovative leadership and lifetime
achievements in diabetes research
Anette-Gabriele Ziegler, Germany:
Type 1 diabetes: a new beginning
Dr Anette Ziegler is an internationally recognized leader in type 1
diabetes research whose discoveries have transformed the under-
standing, prediction, diagnosis, and prevention of type 1 diabetes
Through pioneering prospective birth-cohort studies, including the
landmark BABYDIAB study and the multinational TEDDY study, she
defined the natural history of type 1 diabetes from infancy, identified
the critical biomarkers and risk factors that precede clinical disease,
and established the scientific basis for staging type 1 diabetes before symptom onset
She translated these discoveries into public health models through the Fr1da screening
program to provide early diagnosis at the population level, and the Global Platform for the Prevention of Autoimmune Diabetes (GPPAD), enabling large-scale prevention trials in genetically at-risk children Through GPPAD, she led the POInT trial, the first large-scale randomized trial testing autoantigen-specific immunotherapy as a primary prevention strategy in genetically at-risk infants
The trial provided evidence that early antigen-specific therapy can modify disease trajectories, advancing the field toward precision prevention of type 1 diabetes
From understanding its earliest origins to enabling early diagnosis and prevention, her work has led to fundamental changes in how type 1 diabetes is identified, monitored, and eventually may be prevented
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41st Camillo Golgi Lecture
The Camillo Golgi Prize recognises outstanding contributions in the field of histopathology, pathogenesis, prevention and treatment of the complications and comorbidities of diabetes mellitus
Andreas L Birkenfeld, Germany:
Changing the course of diabetes: from metabolic risk to
organ protection
Andreas L Birkenfeld is Professor of Diabetology, Endocrinology and
Nephrology and Director of the corresponding Department at the
University Hospital Tübingen He also leads the Institute for Diabetes
Research and Metabolic Diseases at Helmholtz Munich and serves on
the Board of the German Center for Diabetes Research
Following his medical training at Charité Berlin, he conducted post-
doctoral research at Yale University with Gerald I Shulman. As a clinician-scientist, he combines basic science, clinical research and daily patient care to
better understand how type 2 diabetes and its complications develop across the lifespan His work spans the continuum from normal glucose regulation to diabetes and – whenever possible, back again – with the aim of improving prevention and long-term outcomes
He is Co-Chair of the EASD guideline on the prevention of type 2 diabetes
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The Albert Renold Prize recognizes outstanding achievements in the field of pathophysiology and treatment of diabetes mellitus
Klaus H Kaestner, USA:
Transcriptional regulation and epigenetic plasticity in the
endocrine pancreas
Klaus H Kaestner, Ph D , M S is the Suor Butterworth Professor of
Genetics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and
Associate Director of Penn’s Institute for Diabetes, Obesity and Metab-
olism as well as Penn’s prestigious NIH-funded Diabetees Research
Center Since 2016,
Dr Kaestner has been Principal Investigator of the
NIH-funded Human Pancreas Analysis Program for Type 1 Diabetes
(T1D), which was selected as the sole US center to direct and coordinate
the deep phenotyping of the human endocrine pancreas to better understand the cellular and molecular events that precede and lead to beta-cell loss and/or dysfunction in T1D
Dr Kaestner’s work is focused on the understanding of the molecular mechanisms of beta-cell mass expansion and glucose homeostasis In addition, his laboratory has pioneered the development of functional genomics tools applicable to the study of the human endocrine pancreas
Dr Kaestner has lectured around the world and has served as Associate Editor for Diabetes and the Journal of Clinical Investigation He has received an NIH MERIT award in 2012, the Roy O Greep Award for Outstanding Research, the Endocrine Society in 2017, and the Albert Renold Prize from the European Association for the Study of Diabetes in 2026 in recognition for his contribution to our understanding of the endocrine pancreas and type 1 diabetes
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The EASD-NNF Diabetes Prize for Excellence recognises outstanding achievements in research which has led to significant advances in the understanding, prevention or treatment of diabetes or its complications
Kei Sakamoto, Sweden:
How cells sense and integrate metabolic signals: from
fundamental discovery to diabetes therapy
Kei Sakamoto is Vice Executive Director and Professor at the Novo
Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research, University of
Copenhagen, and co-founder of Heureka Therapeutics, a biotechnology
company developing therapies for fatty liver disease He previously
served as Head of the Department of Diabetes at the Nestlé Institute of
Health Sciences in Lausanne, Switzerland, and as Programme Leader at
the MRC Protein Phosphorylation and Ubiquitylation Unit, University of
Dundee, UK His pioneering research has uncovered fundamental mechanisms by which cells sense and integrate metabolic signals, advancing our understanding of glucose homeostasis, exercise metabolism, and the development of innovative therapies for type 2 diabetes and cardiometabolic disease
His contributions to metabolic research have been recognised with numerous honours,
including the Young Investigator Awards from the American Physiological Society, election as an International Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and election as an International Fellow of the International Union of Physiological Sciences Academy He has also served on numerous national and international scientific advisory and evaluation panels, including those of Keystone Symposia, the Wellcome Trust, the UK Medical Research Council, and the Swedish Research Council His work continues to shape both fundamental research and the development of new therapeutic approaches for diabetes and cardiometabolic disease
Supported by the Novo Nordisk Foundation
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2nd EASD Diabetes Global Impact Prize Lecture
The EASD Diabetes Global Impact Prize recognises individuals with outstanding contributions in clinical/translational research on diabetes that have had a ’global impact’
Jens J Holst, Denmark:
The future of GLP-1 receptor agonists
Jens Juul Holst, MD, DMSc is Professor of Medical Physiology at the
Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Copenhagen He is
also Senior Group Leader at the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for
Basic Metabolic Research, University of Copenhagen
Professor Holst’s scientific work has focused on the pathophysiology of
obesity and type 2 diabetes and the regulation of metabolism and
food intake by hormones from the pancreas and the gut A particular emphasis has been on the role of the incretin hormones of the gut (GLP-1 and GIP) Professor Holst and his research group were the first to isolate and determine the structure and the biological activities of GLP-1 including its effects on insulin and glucagon secretion as well as its effects on gastrointestinal motility and secretion, and appetite and food intake His group has mapped its secretion in health and disease and provided the fundamentals for its therapeutic use in type 2 diabetes and obesity Current studies focus on the liver-alpha cell axis and the regulation of glucagon secretion as well as the mechanism underlying the effects of gastric bypass operations
He is a member of the Danish Academy for Natural Sciences, the Royal Danish Academy of Science and Letters, The US National Academy of Sciences (NAS), honorary member of the Royal National Academy of Medicine of Spain, and a fellow of the International Union of Physiological Sciences Academy
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