Prestigious prize of the Austrian Society of Allergology and Immunology for Louisa Hill

The Ursula and Fritz Melchers Prize of the Austrian Society of Allergology and Immunology (ÖGAI) recognises the best PhD dissertation in immunology written at Austrian research institutions. This year, Louisa Hill from the lab of Meinrad Busslinger received the award for her exceptional doctoral thesis.

Louisa Hill conducted her doctoral studies at the IMP with Meinrad Busslinger and defended her thesis earlier this year. She aimed to understand how antibody gene segments come together within the nucleus of developing B cells to undergo recombination, thereby generating antibody genes. This process is crucial to generate the vast diversity of antibodies that our immune system needs to fight off pathogens.

Louisa’s thesis, titled “Factors and regulatory elements controlling immunoglobulin locus contraction during V(D)J recombination” made outstanding contributions to the field of developmental immunology, which are now recognised by the Ursula and Fritz Melchers Prize of the Austrian Society of Allergology and Immunology (ÖGAI). The prize is endowed with 1500 Euro.

Earlier this year, Louisa has also won the Rabitsch Award, which celebrates the most promising PhD student in the Vienna BioCenter PhD Program.

Further reading

Louisa Hill wins the Rabitsch Award 2021

How the immune system generates a vast antibody repertoire to fight infections