On 29 June 2013, young scientist Dr. Anke Bill was honored with the Cord -Michael Becker Prize. The Medical Faculty of the Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen, Nuremberg awarded the prize by the Medical Research Foundation of the University Hospital Erlangen for the first time this year. The 5,000 euros prize, is awarded for outstanding doctoral work in Molecular Medicine.

Dr. Bill studied Molecular Biomedicine in Bonn and received her doctorate at the LIMES Institute. Her findings on the function of cytoplasmic Cytohesins as activators of ErbB receptors and their role in the activation of tumor growth will be published in the internationally renowned journal Cell. Dr. Bill currently works in Boston, US and traveled to the ceremony to present her findings.

Dr. Anke Bill identified a group of proteins called cytohesins, which have an important role in cell growth and cell division. These proteins are formed, for example, in large quantities of lung cancer cells. Her work revealed that inhibition of these proteins slows the growth of cancer cells and causes their death. These findings could be used to develop new cancer therapies.