Adolf Leuze Research Award
On the 10th of July 2012, the Adolf Leuze Research Award for Preclinical Imaging, Imaging Technology and Radiopharmacy was awarded for the first time.
The award goes to outstanding young scientists at the Department of Preclinical Imaging and Radiopharmacy. The award was established by Adolf Leuze in 2011 with the intention to support young scientist who pursue a scientific career. The prize can be granted for dissertations, publications in the area of radiopharmacy, preclinical imaging and detector research as well as for international presentations.
Dipl.-Kfm. Adolf Leuze
* 12th August 1931
✝ 14thApril 2014
In memory of Mr. Adolf Leuze, who passed away after a severe illness on 14th April 2014.
Due to his generous donation Mr. Adolf Leuze made it possible to annually award young scientists for their excellent work. He was interested in the development and work of the department up to the end.
With gratitude and respect,
the Department of Preclinical Imaging and Radiopharmacy,
the Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology,
Clinic of Radiology
Awardees 2024
On August 07th, 2024, during the annual WSIC summer BBQ, two young scientists were awarded for their excellent work in 2023.
- Dr. Tudor Ionescu for best doctoral thesis 2023:
"The Study of Brain Function at Rest and Under Activation Using Simultaneous PET/MRI Imaging"
- Simon Isser for for best publication in the area of preclinical imaging 2023:
"Radiolabeled GPVI-Fc for PET Imaging of Multiple Extracellular Matrix Fibers: A New Look into Pulmonary Fibrosis Progression" Journal of Nuclear Medicine 64(6):940-945, 2023

Left to right: PD Dr. Nicolas Bézière, Simon Isser, Dr. Tudor Ionescu, Prof. Dr. Kristina Herfert, Prof. Dr. Bettina Weigelin
Awardees 2023
On July 10th, 2023, during the annual WSIC summer BBQ, two young scientists were awarded for their excellent work in 2022.
- Dr. Fabian Schmidt for best doctoral thesis 2022:
"Towards the development of a breast PET/MRI insert for a clinical whole body PET/MRI scanner"
- Sabina Marciano for for best publication in the area of preclinical imaging 2022:
"Combining CRISPER-CAS9 and brain imaging to study the link from genes to molecules to network."

Left to right: Dr. Fabian Schmidt, PD.Dr. Manfred Kneilling, Prof. Dr. Bettina Weigelin, Jochen Bressmer (Adolf Leuze Foundation), Claudia Schlachtberger (Adolf Leuze Foundation), Prof. Dr. Kristina Herfert (as representative for Sabina Marciano)
Awardees 2022
On December 12th, 2022, during the annual WSIC Christmas party, three young scientists were awarded for their excellent work in 2021.
- Dr. Gregory Bowden for best doctoral thesis 2021:
"The Design, Synthesis, and Radiosynthesis Optimization of Novel Approaches towards the In Vivo PET Imaging of Beta Cell Mass"
- Sabrina Buss and Laura Kübler for the best publication in the area of preclinical imaging 2021:
"[11C]MODAG-001-towards a PET tracer targeting α-synuclein aggregates" European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging 48(6):1759-1772, 2021
Awardees 2020 and 2021
On December 13th, 2021, three members of the laboratory were awarded for their excellent work in 2019 and 2020. Due to the Corona pandemics, no award ceremony was helt in 2020.
- Dr. Prateek Katiyar for best doctoral thesis 2019:
"Quantification of tumor heterogeneity using PET/MRI and machine learning"
- Barbara Schörg for for best publication in Immunology 2020:
"Cancer immunotherapy is accompanied by distinct metabolic patterns in primary and secondary lymphoid organs observed by non-invasive in vivo [18F]FDG-PETfor best publication in detector physics"
- Gregory Bowden for best publication in Imaging Probe Development 2019:
"A Design of Experiments (DoE) Approach Accelerates the Optimization of Copper-Mediated 18F-Fluorination Reactions of Arylstannanes"

Left to right: Gregory Bowden, Barbara Schörg, Dr. Prateek Katiyar, Dr. Manfred Kneilling, Prof. Dr. Bernd Pichler
Awardees 2019
On August 27th, 2019, two members of the laboratory were awarded for their excellent work in 2018.
- Dr. Jonathan Cotton for best doctoral thesis:
"Synthesis and Evaluation of Novel PET Probes for In VivoImaging of Cellular Senescence"
- Fabian Schmidt for best publication in detector physics:
"Optimization, evaluation and calibration of a cross-strip DOI detector"


Top Left to right: Dr. Manfred Kneilling, Dr. Jonathan Cotton, Jochen Bressmer (Adolf Leuze Foundation), Prof. Dr. Bernd Pichler
Bottom Left to right: Dr. Manfred Kneilling, Fabina Schmitt, Jochen Bressmer (Adolf Leuze Foundation), Prof. Dr. Bernd Pichler
Awardee 2018
On July 23rd, 2018, one member of the laboratory was awarded for his excellent work in 2017.
- Prateek Katyiar for best publication in the area of preclinical imaging: "Spectral clustering predicts tumor tissue heterogeneity using dynamic 18F-FDG PET: a complement to the standard compartmental modeling approach"

Awardee 2017
On July 4th, 2017, one member of the laboratory was awarded for her excellent work in 2016.
- Anna-Maria Rolle for best publication in the area of preclinical imaging ImmunoPET/MR imaging allows specific detection of Aspergillus fumigatus lung infection in vivo

Awardees 2016
On July 25, 2016, two members of the laboratory were awarded for their excellent work in 2015.
- Florian Maier best conferral of a doctorate in the area of preclinical imaging
Multiparametrische in vivo PET/MRT Untersuchungen zur longitudinalen Darstellung der ß-Amyloid- Ablagerungs- und rCBF-Dynamik - Bestimmung eines kausalen Zusammenhangs zwischen vaskulärer ß-Amyloidose und quantitativem rCBF-Verlust Multiparametrische in vivo PET/MR
- Johannes Schwenck best conferral of a medical doctorate in the area of preclinical imaging In vivo Untersuchungen der molekularen Regulationsmechanismen der akuten und chronischen TNCB-spezifischen Kontaktallergiereaktion
- Florian Maier for best publication in the area of preclinical imaging
Longitudinal PET-MRI reveals β-amyloid deposition and rCBF dynamics and connects vascular amyloidosis to quantitative loss of perfusion. Nat Med. 2014 Dec; 20(12):1485-92.
Awardees 2014
On July 8, 2014, seven members of the laboratory were awarded for their excellent work in 2013.
- Hans Wehrl For best conferral of a doctorate in the area of preclinical imaging
Möglichkeiten und Grenzen der kombinierten PET/MR-Bildgebung in der onkologischen und neurologischen Grundlagenforschung. - Ilja Bezrukov for best publication in the area of preclinical imaging
MR-based attenuation correction methods for improved PET quantification in lesions within bone and susceptibility artifact regions.
Journal of Nuclear Medicine 54(10):1768-74, 2013 - Kerstin Fuchs for best publication in the area of preclinical imaging
In vivo imaging of cell proliferation enables the detection of the extent of experimental rheumatoid arthritis by 3'-deoxy-3'-18f-fluorothymidine and small-animal PET.
Journal of Nuclear Medicine 54(1):151-8, 2013 - Chih-Chieh Liu for best oral presentation in the area of imaging technology
The stability of the PET detector efficiency under the influence of a magnetic field.
IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium and Medical Imaging Conference 2013 - Philipp Günthör for best oral presentation in the area of preclinical imaging
In vivo PET-imaging of inflammation-induced hypoxia during experimental arthritis: Comparison of [18F]-Fluoromisonidazole ([18F]FMISO) and [18F]Fluoro-azomycin-β-deoxyriboside ([18F]β-FAZDR)
World Molecular Imaging Congress 2013, Georgia, USA - Florian Maier for best oral presentation in the area of preclinical imaging
Multiparametrical PET/MRI reveals that both α-amyloid load and loss of perfusion in the brain of transgenic AD mice reach a plateau phase.
World Molecular Imaging Congress 2013, Georgia, USA - Anna-Maria Rolle for best oral presentation in the area of preclinical imaging
Evaluation of a neutrophil granulocyte specific antibody for in vivo PET imaging of Aspergillus fumigatus infection.
Annual Conference of the German Society of Nuclear Medicine 2013, Bremen, Germany

From left to right: Claus Claussen, Ms. Mack, Bernd Pichler, Christina Pfannenberg, Florian Maier, Ilja Bezrukov, Manfred Kneilling
Kerstin Fuchs, Anna-Maria Rolle, Philipp Günthör, Chih-Chieh Liu
Awardees 2013
On March 26, 2013, seven members of the laboratory were awarded for their excellent work in 2012.
- Kristina Fischer For best conferral of a doctorate in the area of preclinical imaging
Grenzen und Möglichkeiten der in-vivo-Quantifizierung des dopaminergen Systems in Ratten und Mäusen mittels Positronenemissionstomographie. - Kerstin Fuchs for best publication in the area of preclinical imaging
Oxygen breathing affects 3'-deoxy-3'-18F-fluorothymidine uptake in mouse models of arthritis and cancer.
Journal of Nuclear Medicine 53(5):823-30, 2012 - Armin Kolb for best publication in the area of imaging techology
Technical performance evaluation of a human brain PET/MRI system.
European Radiology (8):1776-88, 2012 - Chih-Chieh Liu for best oral presentation in the area of imaging technology
The Performance Measurements of a Next Generation Dedicated Small Animal PET/MR Scanner.
IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium and Medical Imaging Conference 2012 - Andreas Schmid for best oral presentation in the area of imaging technology
Sequential PET/MRI using a 1T bench-top MRI scanner
World Molecular Imaging Congress 2012, Dublin, Ireland - Julia Schmitt for best oral presentation in the area of imaging technology
In vivo and in vitro characterization of three radiolabeled anti-GD2 Antibodies to be used as Biomarker for Neuroblastoma Imaging and Radioimmunotherapy.
World Molecular Imaging Congress 2012, Dublin, Ireland - Hans Wehrl for best oral presentation in the area of imaging technology
Simultaneous small animal PET/MR reveals different brain networks during stimulation and rest.
World Molecular Imaging Congress 2012, Dublin, Ireland

From left to right: Bernd Pichler, Ms. Mack, Chieh-Chih Liu, Julia Schmitt, Andreas Schmid,
Kerstin Fuchs, Hans Wehrl, Kristina Fischer, Armin Kolb, Adolf Leuze, Manfred Kneilling
Awardees 2012
In 2012, five members of the laboratory were awarded for their excellent work in 2011.
- Kristina Fischer for best publication in the area of preclinical imaging
Noninvasive nuclear imaging enables the in vivo quantification of striatal dopamine receptor expressin and raclopride affinity in mice.
Journal of Nuclear Medicine, 52(7):1133-41, 2011 - Christoph Grießinger for best oral presentation in the area of preclinical imaging
Extracellular [64Cu]DOTA-antibody labeling of specific Th1 cells yields longer in vivo tracking and higher contrast compared to intracellular [64Cu]PTSM labeling in an animal model for airway hyperresponsiveness.
World Molecular Imaging Congress 2011, San Diego, USA - Damaris Kukuk for best publication in the area of preclinical imaging
Assessment of PET tracer uptake in hormone-independent and hormone-dependent xenograft prostate cancer mouse models.
Journal of Nuclear Medicine, 52(10):1654-63, 2011 - Florian Maier for best oral presentation in the area of preclinical imaging
Noninvasive assessment of anatomical and physiological alterations associated with cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) in a transgenic mouse model of Alzheimers Disease with multiparametric PET/MR
World Molecular Imaging Congress 2011, San Diego, USA - Hans Wehrl for best publication in the area of preclinical imaging
Assessment of MR compatibility of a PET insert developed for simultaneous multiparametric PET/MR imaging on an animal system operating at 7 T.
Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, 65(1):269-79, 2011

Awardees with Adolf Leuze accompanied by Ms. Mack, Dr. Manfred Kneilling (head of the selection commitee) and Prof. Bernd Pichler