Vienna honours Meinrad Busslinger with decoration
Meinrad Busslinger, Emeritus Senior Group Leader and former Scientific Deputy Director of the IMP, has been honoured with the Silver Medal for Meritorious Service to the Province of Vienna. The Provincial Government unanimously decided for this recognition in light of Busslinger’s outstanding scientific achievements and his pioneering contributions to establishing the IMP and the Vienna BioCenter.
Meinrad Busslinger, Emeritus Senior Group Leader at the IMP, has been awarded the Silver Medal for Meritorious Service to the Province of Vienna (“Silbernes Ehrenzeichen für Verdienste um das Land Wien”).
The Silver Medal, adorned with a striking golden eagle and the enamelled coat of arms of Vienna–one of the province’s highest honours– was presented by the chair of the city council Thomas Reindl in the frame of a ceremony with almost one hundred guests at the Vienna City Hall on 27 January. The award is given to individuals for exceptional contributions to the province of Vienna through public or private activities.
The selection of Meinrad Busslinger for this honour was unanimous by a vote of the Provincial Government last June. Thomas Reindl pointed out Busslinger’s life-time functions and achievements. In addition to being Emeritus Senior Group Leader and former Scientific Deputy Director at the IMP, Busslinger is Professor of Molecular Genetics at the University of Vienna, an elected member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO), the Austrian Academy of Sciences, and the Academia Europaea, and recipient of several important research awards, including a Wittgenstein Award and the Virchow Medal of the University of Würzburg.
Meinrad Busslinger’s work, centred on transcriptional control of B-cell differentiation, has spanned almost half a century and left a significant mark on the scientific community. In his laudatory speech, IMP Scientific Director Jan-Michael Peters reflected on Busslinger’s life, career, and legacy. Peters highlighted several key discoveries: the finding that a single transcription factor (Pax5) can determine the specification of one cell type (B-cells) and at the same time suppress differentiation of precursor cells into a different cell type, in this case T-cells – at the time a very unexpected finding and a breakthrough discovery for the fields of cell differentiation and immunology. Peters also explained how Meinrad Busslinger discovered how developing B-cells reorganize their genome into long loops to allow the assembly of new antibody genes by recombination. This mechanism is essential for the immune system to generate the large repertoire of different antibodies that protect us from pathogenic viruses and bacteria.
Peters then explained Meinrad Busslinger’s pioneering role in re-establishing Vienna as an international centre of research and scholarship. Vienna had been a magnet for scientists and artists at the end of the 19th century but had largely lost this role after two world wars, the stark fissure it suffered from the holocaust, and being cut off from its Eastern and Northern surroundings by the iron curtain. Meinrad Busslinger’s move to Vienna in 1988 to establish the IMP with other scientists united by founding director Max Birnstiel marked the beginning of a new era, which led to the development of the Vienna BioCenter and helped Vienna to become again a vibrant and attractive centre for life science research.
In his speech, Meinrad Busslinger thanked his colleagues, friends, and family for their support. He particularly highlighted the importance of the continuous and generous support of Boehringer Ingelheim as the main sponsor of the creative freedom that shaped the IMP into the thriving research hub it is today. Several representatives from Boehringer Ingelheim, many alumni of the Busslinger Lab, science colleagues, and friends attended the ceremony.
Further reading
Busslinger Lab
Information on the Silver Medal for Meritorious Service to the Province of Vienna in German
Official announcement of the decoration (German)