Egon Macher Award

– Young Investigator Award – 

Established in 2003, the Egon Macher Research Award is presented annually by the ADF to recognize outstanding research contributions by early-career investigators in experimental dermatology.

The award is endowed with EUR 7,500 and may be shared between up to two recipients. If the Scientific Awarding Committee does not identify a suitable candidate in a given year, the award will not be presented, and the prize money will be carried forward to increase the award in the following year.

sponsored by AbbVie Germany & Co KG
Egon Macher

Eligibility

All ADF members who, as of November 1, 2026:

  • are 40 years old or younger,
  • are not yet directors of a clinic or department,

are eligible to apply.

Previous recipients of the Egon Macher Award and/or the Paul Langerhans Award are excluded from participation.

Requirements for the submitted publication

  • Applications may only be submitted by first authors (not co-authors).
  • Each applicant may submit only one publication.
  • The majority of the work must have been carried out at a dermatological research institution in Germany, Austria, or Switzerland.
  • The publication must have been published no more than one year prior to the application deadline.
  • For publications that have not yet appeared in print, confirmation of acceptance by the journal must be provided.

Obligation of the prize recipient(s)

Each prize recipient must present their research field as a mini-review in the journal Experimental Dermatology, citing the awarded publication. Acceptance of the prize entails a commitment to fulfill this requirement.

Submission

Applications must be submitted by email as a PDF file to the ADF office at info@adf-online.de.
Submission deadline: November 1, 2026.

The application must include:

  • the scientific publication,
  • a brief CV,
  • a list of publications.

Scientific Awarding Committee:

  • Prof. Dr. Karin Loser (Chair)
  • Prof. Dr. Rüdiger Eming
  • Prof. Dr. Kilian Eyerich
  • Prof. Dr. Mario Fabri
  • Prof. Dr. Evelyn Gaffal
  • Dr. Elsa Neubert
  • Prof. Dr. Ralf Ludwig

Award Ceremony

The award ceremony, together with a brief presentation of the awarded publication by the prize recipient(s), will take place as part of the 53rd ADF Annual Meeting, to be held in Lübeck from March 11–13, 2027.

Past awardees of the Egon Macher Award of the ADF

EGON MACHER AWARD 2026
Verleihung des Egon-Macher-Preises an Teresa Neuwirth v. l.: Alpaslan Tasdogan (ADF-Vorstand), Teresa Neuwirth, Stefan Oelmann (Vertreter des Sponsors AbbVie Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG), Jennifer Hundt (ADF-Vorstand)
Verleihung des Egon-Macher-Preises an Teresa Neuwirth v. l.: Alpaslan Tasdogan (ADF-Vorstand), Teresa Neuwirth, Stefan Oelmann (Vertreter des Sponsors AbbVie Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG), Jennifer Hundt (ADF-Vorstand)

Egon Macher Award 2026

„The polyamine-regulating enzyme SSAT1 impairs tissue regulatory T cell function in chronic cutaneous inflammation“

Teresa Neuwirth, Vienna

Presentation of the Egon Macher Prize to Enais Elewaut in absentia; center: L. Erpenbeck (ADF Board Member), left: S. Oelmann (representative of the sponsor AbbVie Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG), right: K. Loser (Chair of the Prize Board of Trustees)
Presentation of the Egon Macher Prize to Enais Elewaut in absentia; center: L. Erpenbeck (ADF Board Member), left: S. Oelmann (representative of the sponsor AbbVie Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG), right: K. Loser (Chair of the Prize Board of Trustees)

Egon Macher Award 2025

„Cancer cells impair monocyte-mediated T cell stimulation to evade immunity (Nature, 21st of October 2024).“

Enais Elewaut, Vienna

Presentation of the Egon Macher Prize to Anna Redl (Vienna), second from the left, with Karin Loser (Chair of the Prize Board of Trustees), center, Luise Erpenbecki (ADF Board Member), right, and Stefan Oelmann (representative of the sponsor AbbVie Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG), left.
Presentation of the Egon Macher Prize to Anna Redl (Vienna), second from the left, with Karin Loser (Chair of the Prize Board of Trustees), center, Luise Erpenbecki (ADF Board Member), right, and Stefan Oelmann (representative of the sponsor AbbVie Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG), left.

Egon Macher Award 2024

„Single-cell and spatial transcriptomics reveal aberrant lymphoid developmental programs driving granuloma formation (Immunity 56, 1–18, February 14, 2023)“

Anna Redl, Vienna

Presentation of the Egon Macher Prize to Lukas Leiendecker, second from the left, with Karin Loser (Chair of the Prize Board of Trustees), Mario Farbri (ADF Board Member), second from the right, and Rainer Lauterbach (representative of the sponsor AbbVie Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG), on the right.
Presentation of the Egon Macher Prize to Lukas Leiendecker, second from the left, with Karin Loser (Chair of the Prize Board of Trustees), Mario Farbri (ADF Board Member), second from the right, and Rainer Lauterbach (representative of the sponsor AbbVie Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG), on the right.

Egon Macher Award 2023

„Human papillomavirus 42 drives digital papillary adenocarcinoma and elicits a germ-cell like program conserved in HPV-positive cancers (Cancer Discovery, 10, 2022)“

Lukas Leiendecker, Vienna

Egon Macher Award 2022

„Delayed antiretroviral therapy in HIV-infected individuals leads to irreversible depletion of skin- and mucosa-resident memory T cells.“

Simona Saluzzo, Vienna

Egon Macher Award 2021

„Adoptive T Cell Therapy Targeting Different Gene Products Reveals Diverse and Context Dependent Immune Evasion in Melanoma (Immunity 53, 1–17 September 15, 2020)“

Maike Effern, Bonn

 

„Long-term skin resident memory T cells proliferate in situ and are involved in human graft-versus-host disease (Science Translational Medicine 2020)“

Johanna Strobl, Vienna

Egon Macher Award 2020

„Sodium chloride is an ionic checkpoint for human TH2 cells and shapes the atopic skin microenvironment (Sci. Transl. Med. 11, eaau0683 (2019) 20 February 2019)“

Julia Matthias, Berlin

„Gene-diet interactions associated with complex trait variation in an advanced intercross outbred mouse line“
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS (2019) 10

Artem Vorobyev, Luebeck
Presentation of the Egon Macher Award to Elsa Neubert (2nd from the right); on the left, R. Eming (ADF Board Member); 2nd from the left, a representative of the sponsor AbbVie Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG; on the right, S. Goerdt (Chair of the Prize Board of Trustees)
Presentation of the Egon Macher Award to Elsa Neubert (2nd from the right); on the left, R. Eming (ADF Board Member); 2nd from the left, a representative of the sponsor AbbVie Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG; on the right, S. Goerdt (Chair of the Prize Board of Trustees)

Egon Macher Award 2019

„Cromatin swelling drives neutrophil extracellular trap release“

Elsa Neubert, Göttingen

 
Presentation of the Egon Macher Award to Nicole Glodde (2nd from right), Nadine Lohmann and Lucas Schirmer, represented here by Sandra Franz (center); on the left, Karin Loser (ADF Board Member); second from the left, Wolfgang Saupe-Thies (representative of the sponsor AbbVie Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG); on the right, Amir Yazdi (AwardBoard)
Presentation of the Egon Macher Award to Nicole Glodde (2nd from right), Nadine Lohmann and Lucas Schirmer, represented here by Sandra Franz (center); on the left, Karin Loser (ADF Board Member); second from the left, Wolfgang Saupe-Thies (representative of the sponsor AbbVie Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG); on the right, Amir Yazdi (AwardBoard)

Egon Macher Award 2018

„Glycosaminoglycan-based hydrogels capture inflammatory chemokines and rescue defective wound healing in mice“

Nadine Lohmann, Leipzig I Lucas Schirmer, Dresden

 
Presentation of the Egon Macher Award to Xiaolei Ding (2nd from left) and Jan P. Nicolay (2nd from right); on the left, Wolfgang Saupe-Thies (representative of the sponsor, AbbVie Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG); on the right, Detlef Zillikens (Prize Board)
Presentation of the Egon Macher Award to Xiaolei Ding (2nd from left) and Jan P. Nicolay (2nd from right); on the left, Wolfgang Saupe-Thies (representative of the sponsor, AbbVie Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG); on the right, Detlef Zillikens (Prize Board)

Egon Macher Award 2017

„mTORC1 and mTORC2 regulate skin morphogenesis and epidermal barrier formation“

Xiaolei Ding, Cologne

„Dimethyl fumarate restores apoptosis sensitivity and inhibits tumor growth and metastasis in CTCL by targeting NF-κB“
Jan P. Nicolay, Mannheim

Egon Macher Award 2016

„Interleukin-4 Receptor α signaling in myeloid cells controls collagen fibril assembly in skin repair“

Johanna Knipper I Sebastian Willenborg, Cologne/Edinburgh

Presentation of the Egon Macher Award to Y. Skabytska (represented by T. Biedermann, second from left) and T. Bald (second from right); on the left, M. Metz and C. Neumann; on the right, J. Huss-Marp (representative of the sponsor, AbbVie Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG)
Presentation of the Egon Macher Award to Y. Skabytska (represented by T. Biedermann, second from left) and T. Bald (second from right); on the left, M. Metz and C. Neumann; on the right, J. Huss-Marp (representative of the sponsor, AbbVie Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG)

Egon Macher Award 2015

„Cutaneous Innate Immune Sensing of Toll-like Receptor 2-6 Ligands Suppresses T Cell Immunity by Inducing Myeloid-Derived Suppressor Cells“

Yuliya Skabytska, Tuebingen

„Ultraviolet-radiation-induced inflammation promotes angiotropism and metastasis in melanoma“

Tobias Bald, Bonn

Egon Macher Award Ceremony: From left: S. Goerdt, D. Ellinghaus, M. C. Florian, S. Grätz, K. Schäkel
Egon Macher Award Ceremony: From left: S. Goerdt, D. Ellinghaus, M. C. Florian, S. Grätz, K. Schäkel

Egon Macher Award 2014

„A canonical to non-canonical Wnt signalling switch in hematopoietic stem cell ageing (Nature 2013, Oct 20)“

Maria Carolina Florian, Ulm

„High-density genotyping study identifies four new susceptibility loci for atopic dermatitis (Nature Genetics 7/2013)“

David Ellinghaus, Kiel
Presentation of the Egon Macher Award to J. Landsberg (center), J. Kohlmeyer (second from right), and M. Renn (right) by J. Frank (left) and K. Schäkel (second from left)
Presentation of the Egon Macher Award to J. Landsberg (center), J. Kohlmeyer (second from right), and M. Renn (right) by J. Frank (left) and K. Schäkel (second from left)

Egon Macher Award 2013

„Melanomas resist T-cells therapy througt inflammation-induced reversible dedifferentiation (2012 Nature 490, 412-416)“

Jenny Landsberg I Judith  Kohlmeyer I Marcel Renn, Bonn

Presentation of the Egon Macher Award to Dr. Thomas Wiesner (2nd from left) with ADF Board Member Prof. Dr. Claudia Traidl-Hoffmann (left), the Chair of the Board of Trustees, Prof. Dr. Martin Röcken, and a representative of the sponsor, Stiefel @ GSK

Egon Macher Award 2012

„Germline mutations in BAP1 predispose to melanocytic tumors (Nature Genetics, 2011 Aug:43 (10): 1018-21)“

Thomas Wiesner, New York

Presentation of the Egon Macher Award to Stefanie Eyerich (Munich)
Presentation of the Egon Macher Award to Stefanie Eyerich (Munich)

Egon Macher Award 2011

„Th22 cells represent a distinct human T lymphocyte subset involved in epidermal immunity and remodeling (J Clin Invest. 2009 Dec;119(12):3573-85)“

Stefanie und Kilian Eyerich, München

Presentation of the Egon Macher Award to Jochen Utikal (Mannheim)
Presentation of the Egon Macher Award to Jochen Utikal (Mannheim)

Egon Macher Award 2010

„Cellular immortalization eliminates a roadblock during the reprogramming of somatic cells into iPS cells (Nature. 2009; 460:1145-8.)“

Jochen Utikal, Mannheim

Presentation of the Egon Macher Award to Christoffer Gebhardt (Heidelberg)

Egon Macher Award 2009

„RAGE signaling sustains inflammation and promotes tumor development. (J Exp Med. 2008;205:275-85)“

Christoffer Gebhardt, Heidelberg

Egon Macher Award 2008

„Attenuation of allergic contact dermatitis through the endocannabinoid system. (Science. 2007;316:1494-7)“

Evelyn Gaffal, Bonn

Presentation of the Egon Macher Prize to Dr. K. Loser (Münster)
Presentation of the Egon Macher Prize to Dr. K. Loser (Münster)

Egon Macher Award 2007

„Epidermal RANKL controls regulatory T-cell numbers via activation of dentritic cells. (Nat Med. 2006;12:1372-9)“

Karin Loser, Münster

Egon Macher Award winner, representative of the sponsor 3M Medica GmbH, and member of the ADF Board of Directors
Egon Macher Award winner, representative of the sponsor 3M Medica GmbH, and member of the ADF Board of Directors

Egon Macher Award 2006

„Wound healing defect of CD18 mice due to a decrease in TGF-beta1 and myofibroblast differentiation. (EMBO J. 2005; 24:3400-10)“

Anca Sindrilaru I Thorsten Peters, Ulm

Egon Macher Award 2005

„Targeting of lymphotoxin-alpha to the tumor elicits an efficient immune response associated with induction of peripheral lymphoid-like tissue. (Immunity. 2001;14:111-21)“

David Schrama, Würzburg

2004 Award Winners

Egon Macher Award 2004

„Interleukin-1a promotes Th1 differentiation and inhibits disease progression in Leishmania major-susceptible BALB/c mice (J Exp Med. 2003;198:191-9) Early macrophage influx to sites of cutaneous granuloma formation is dependent on MIP-1a/b released from neutrophils recruited by mast cell-derived TNFa (Blood 2003;101:210-5)“

Esther von Stebut, Mainz