German Autoimmune Foundation Honours Two Scientists from Kiel’s Cluster of Excellence PMI

Press Release of the Cluster of Excellence PMI

The German Autoimmune Foundation presents the Nils-Ilja-Richter Prize to Prof. André Franke for a landmark study on the role of the Epstein-Barr virus in a rare liver disease – and supports an innovative therapeutic approach against autoimmune skin diseases with a research fellowship.

More than five million people in Germany live with an autoimmune disease – conditions in which the immune system attacks the body’s own tissue, often for years or decades, without any causal treatment being available. The German Autoimmune Foundation (www.autoimmun.org) has made it its mission to change exactly that: it funds research that opens new avenues in the diagnosis and treatment of autoimmune diseases. At a ceremony on 27 April 2026 on the UKSH Campus Kiel, two scientists from the Cluster of Excellence Precision Medicine in Chronic Inflammation (PMI) were honoured for work that fulfils this ambition.

A virus as a possible trigger – a new perspective on a puzzling liver disease

Primary sclerosing cholangitis, or PSC, is a rare, insidious disease of the bile ducts: the bile ducts become inflamed, scar over and lose their function – ultimately progressing to liver cirrhosis. In severe cases, liver transplantation remains the only option. What triggers the disease had long been unclear.

Prof. André Franke, Director of the Institute of Clinical Molecular Biology (IKMB) at Kiel University (Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel), and his team have now found a possible key. In a study published in Nature Medicine – the largest immune repertoire analysis of PSC to date – the researchers examined more than 1,400 individuals and identified immune cells as well as antibodies that react specifically to the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and that incorporate the known genetic risk factors for PSC, the identification of which Franke had worked on in preceding years. Complementary analyses of electronic health records from more than 116 million people showed: those who have had infectious mononucleosis – an acute EBV infection – develop PSC significantly more frequently. The study suggests that EBV-reactive immune cells could attack the body’s own bile duct tissue through molecular mimicry – a finding that opens up new diagnostic markers and targeted therapeutic approaches.

“We have long known that certain genetic variants increase the risk of PSC – but why remained unclear. Our data now suggest that a prior EBV infection can shape and influence the immune system in such a way that it later attacks the body’s own bile duct tissue. This is a first, important step towards a targeted therapy for a disease in which we have so far had very little to offer,” says Prof. Franke.

For this work, Prof. Franke receives the Nils-Ilja-Richter Prize of the German Autoimmune Foundation, awarded for outstanding research into the pathogenesis and treatment of autoimmune diseases. From twelve high-calibre applications, an independent review panel of external members of the scientific advisory board selected his work.

“The quality of the submitted applications was exceptionally high. The review panel was persuaded by Prof. Franke’s work because it not only reveals a fundamental mechanism but also opens concrete avenues for new therapies – which is precisely what we aim to achieve with the Nils-Ilja-Richter Prize,” says Prof. Dieter Kabelitz, Chair of the German Autoimmune Foundation.

Greater precision against autoimmune diseases – a tailored antibody to eliminate only the disease-causing immune cells

Many therapies for autoimmune diseases intervene deeply in the immune system – with considerable side effects. A new approach aims for greater precision: rather than suppressing the entire immune system, only those B cells that mistakenly produce antibodies against the body’s own tissue are to be eliminated – cells that cause diseases such as epidermolysis bullosa acquisita (EBA). In EBA, these misdirected antibodies target collagen type VII, a structural component of skin anchoring, triggering an inflammatory reaction that destroys the skin from within and leads to extensive blistering.

Dr. Leon Schmidt-Jiménez of the Lübeck Institute of Experimental Dermatology (LIED) at UKSH Lübeck is developing tailored antibody constructs that specifically recognise these disease-causing immune cells and recruit T cells of the immune system to eliminate them. The concept has already been successfully tested in preclinical mouse model studies. The approach has potentially far-reaching implications: in principle, it could be extended to other autoimmune diseases for which the triggering antigen is known.

For the next phase of his research, Schmidt-Jiménez receives the Short-Term Research Fellowship of the German Autoimmune Foundation, enabling a research stay at the Department of Dermatology at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, where Prof. Kyle Amber has already established the model system in his laboratory. The fellowship is funded by Sanofi in Germany – as the first of three fellowships that the biopharmaceutical research company is making available to the German Autoimmune Foundation for this purpose over the coming years.

Through its Immunoscience approach, Sanofi is advancing the research and development of innovative therapies and vaccines for patients worldwide across a broad spectrum of diseases. This includes research funding in the field of autoimmune diseases.

About the German Autoimmune Foundation

The German Autoimmune Foundation (www.autoimmun.org) was founded in 2012 and promotes interdisciplinary exchange of scientific knowledge on the research and treatment of all autoimmune diseases. It supports collaboration between basic and clinical research and advocates for the development of innovative therapeutic approaches. The Foundation is financed exclusively through donations and contributions. Its Chair is Prof. Dieter Kabelitz, former Director of the Institute of Immunology at UKSH Campus Kiel.