Prof. Peter H. Krammer Was Awarded STS Honorary Medal at the 24th STS Meeting on Signal Transduction

The Signal Transduction Society (STS) is pleased to announce that the STS Honorary Medal 2021, co-sponsored by the International Journal of Molecular Sciences (IJMS, ISSN: 1422-0067), was awarded to Prof. Peter H. Krammer (Heidelberg, Germany) at the 24th annual conference of the STS held in Weimar, Germany, from 15 to 17 November 2021. The STS Honorary Medal is the most prestigious award of the STS and is presented every year to an outstanding scientist who inspired scientists all over the world to work on receptors, mediators, or genes involved in signal transduction processes. Since 2017, the IJMS has been a co-sponsor of this award.

The STS Honorary Medal was awarded to Prof. Krammer for his lifetime contributions to the elucidation of cell death signaling. Prof. Krammer identified the death receptor CD95 (APO-1/Fas), the first known cell membrane-integral protein to induce cell death at this time. He demonstrated that apoptosis, a morphologically defined form of programmed cell death, is an intrinsic physiological process within cells. He identified the death-inducing signaling complex (DISC) and the function of its components such as caspase-8 and c-FLIP. He described activation-induced cell death (AICD) on the single cell level and how T cell death contributes to immunological tolerance.

His ideas and innovative experimental approaches exceptionally influenced our current understanding of apoptosis signaling and its contribution to tolerance and cancer development.

Prof. Krammer has inspired, supported, and guided generations of students and fellows. He and his research have impacted an entire scientific era.

A list of all Past Recipients of the STS Honorary Medal is available at the STS website.