News from the Institute

Today, the Web of Science Group released its annual list of Highly Cited Researchers. On it is IBC2 Director Ivan Dikic, who is recognized for his outstanding record in the field of Molecular Biology and Genetics. The list was curated by analyzing highly-cited papers published between 2008 and 2018. According to the definition, a highly-cited paper is one that at the end of 2018 ranked in the top 1% by citations in a given field and year. Based on the total count of citations for those papers, researchers are then ranked, and the top 1% in each field are selected for the list. By this method, scientists are identified who have published multiple highly-cited papers and who therefore have significant and broad influence in their field. It is the second year in a row that Ivan is on the list, in 2018 he was recognized in the Cross-Field section. Congratulations to Ivan!

Phosphoribosyl-serine (PR) ubiquitination is a novel type of ubiquitination utilized by Legionella pneumophila during infection. In the past three years, IBC2 Director Ivan Dikic and his team were amongst the front-runners in unravelling the exciting chemistry behind. Now they add a new piece to the puzzle: As reported in today’s online issue of Molecular Cell, they discovered two bacterial effectors which are capable of removing PR ubiquitination. According to their function, they named the proteins as DUPs: DeUbiquitinases for PR ubiquitination. They continued to elucidate the catalytic mechanism of DUPs, providing detailed structural understanding of yet another novel chemistry. 

Ivan Dikic, recipient of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize in 2013, gave a Leibniz Lecture on "Ubiquitin and Autophagy networks in Health and Disease" at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda (MD, USA) on 23rd October 2019. The Leibniz Prize is the highest honor awarded in German research. Established in 1985, the prize provides an unparalleled degree of freedom to understanding scientists and academics to pursue their research interests. The DFG organizes Leibniz Lectures in different regions across the world in order to promote the prize, the research conducted by the prize holders and the high quality of German science in general.

Professor Ivan Dikic, Director of the Institute of Biochemistry II at Goethe University Frankfurt, has been inducted to the venerable American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Since 1780, the Academy has regularly been electing new members to recognize their outstanding achievements in academia, the arts, business, philanthropy, and public affairs, in line with founders’ vision “to cultivate every art and science which may tend to advance the interest, honor, dignity, and happiness of a free, independent, and virtuous people.” Academy members are world leaders and represent the most innovative thinkers in their fields. Amongst them are more than 250 Nobel and Pulitzer prize winners.

In a festive ceremony embedded in Goethe University’s Postdoctoral Day, IBC2 group leader Christian Münch today received the Aventis Foundation Postdoctoral Award.
The award is endowed with € 100,000 and intended to support young academics on their track towards full professorships. Each year, the Aventis Foundation cooperates with a scientific institution to honour up to three of the most outstanding talents in life sciences. This year, besides Christian, two colleagues working at Goethe University’s Riedberg campus have been selected, Daniel Merk and Inga Hänelt.