Eppendorf Young Investigator

This year’s 16th research prize awarded by Eppendorf AG (Hamburg) was presented to Assistant Professor Suzan Rooijakkers, PhD, University Medical Centre Utrecht, Department of Medical Microbiology, Utrecht, The Netherlands, for her outstanding work in biomedical research in Europe The Eppendorf Award for Young European Investigator presented in partnership with Nature, supports young European scientists up to the age of 35. The prize is awarded by an independent committee composed of Proffessor Kai Simons (Chairman), Proffessor Dieter Häussinger, Proffessor
Reinhard Jahn and Proffesor Martin J. Lohse.

Suzan Rooijakkers, won the prize for her discoveries of how the pathogen Staphylococcus aureus evades immune attack to survive in the human host. She found out that the Staphylococci secrete proteins that block critical steps in the complement cascade. One such protein is the unique complement inhibitor SCIN that she found to inhibit the C3 convertase, which is required for the complement system to tag the bacteria for destruction.