Two Imperial researchers win Helmholtz international awards

Professor Amanda Fisher and Professor Wisia Wedzicha

Professor Amanda Fisher and Professor Wisia Wedzicha have been announced as winners of the Helmholtz International Fellow Award.

The Helmholtz Association is Germany’s largest scientific organisation. Established in 2012, the International Fellow Award aims to strengthen cooperation between researchers, and is awarded to individuals in recognition of their personal qualities and service to science. 

Both Professor Wedzicha and Professor Fisher will be invited to visit one of the Helmholtz research centres to undergo collaborative work. They will also be expected to spend the prize money of approximately €20,000 in conjunction with one of the Helmholtz Centres and to serve as ambassadors for collaborative research.

Professor Wisia Wedzicha is Professor of Respiratory Medicine, at the National Heart and Lung Institute at Imperial College London.  She was elected as Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2013 and is a National Institute for Health Research Senior Investigator. Professor Wedzicha’s main area of research is in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). She leads a research group in COPD exacerbations, looking at cause, mechanism, impact and prevention, as well as the role of bacterial and viral infection in COPD aggravation.  

“I am greatly honoured to receive this prestigious International Award and looking forward to collaborations between Imperial and the University of Munich,” she said.

Professor Amanda Fisher is director of the Medical Research Council Clinical Sciences Centre at Imperial. She is known for her pioneering work within the fields of HIV pathogenesis, T lymphocyte development, embryonic stem cells and epigenetic gene regulation. Professor Fisher has made several important advances in her research field, including describing the first active clones of HIV and discovering the functions of several HIV genes.

Professor Fisher is planning to use her award money for scientific meetings as well as lab staff exchange. She wishes to extend Imperial’s existing partnership with the Max-Delbrueck-Centre for Molecular Medicine (MDC) in Berlin. 

“I am always interested in facilitating collaborations with science institutions around the world, and I am incredibly grateful to the Helmholtz Association for this great opportunity to further our collaboration with the Max Delbrueck Center in Berlin,” she said.