Dr. Hesham ElAbd Receives €40,000 Prize from the Bruhn Foundation

We are pleased to share the news that Dr. Hesham ElAbd, from the IKMB and associated postdoctoral researcher in P1, was awarded the “Bruhn Prize” on 2 December 2025 for his research on immune-mediated diseases. The prize is endowed with €40,000 and is among the most highly funded awards of the Medical Faculty of Kiel University.

Dr. Hesham ElAbd’s research focuses on the immunogenetics of chronic inflammatory diseases. He investigates the repertoire of the immune system in inflammatory and immune-mediated diseases using modern high-throughput technologies. A key aim of his work is to identify T-cell groups that play a role in immune-mediated inflammatory diseases and to determine which antigens may contribute to disease development. By analysing electronic health records of more than 116 million people, he identified an association between infectious mononucleosis and primary sclerosing cholangitis. He found that people with primary sclerosing cholangitis exhibit an enhanced immune response to the Epstein-Barr virus, which commonly causes infectious mononucleosis. The results were published in Nature Medicine.

Congratulations to Dr. Hesham ElAbd for this well-deserved recognition with the Bruhn Prize!

“Bruhn Prize”

Since 2010, the Bruhn foundation established by former lecturers Dr. Annegret Bruhn and Professor Hans Dietrich Bruhn has supported early-career researchers and medical research at Kiel University. The annual “Bruhn Prize” recognises outstanding doctoral theses or other exceptional research achievements and projects in personalised medicine. Eligible work includes experimental or clinical research involving new molecular markers or complex molecular methods with potential for translation into clinical medicine.

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