“ I feel very honored to receive this prestigious prize from EASO (European Association for the Study of Obesity),” said Professor Hauner, a nutritional physician, who can look back on decades of research in this field. Ever since his medical studies, Professor Hauner has been fascinated by the complex regulation of human metabolism. He is particularly interested in how the human body selects and uses nutrients and how they influence health.
In 1987, the Professor Hauner first described the in vitro differentiation of human adipocyte progenitors, and by optimizing culture conditions for human cells, he succeeded in developing a method that is still widely used in obesity research.
Using the powerful new technology of genome-wide association studies, numerous new genetic loci related to diseases and other phenotypes have since been discovered. The scientist, together with his team and his cooperation partners, has succeeded in gaining multifaceted insights into the characterisation of genetic variants for obesity and diabetes and has published accordingly in journals such as Cell and NEJM.
In addition to these basic science issues, he is also interested in clinical nutrition research and has conducted several intervention studies during his tenure at EKFZ. One such study, the GEliS Study, funded by the Else Kröner Fresenius Foundation, investigated the extent to which excessive weight gain during pregnancy or obesity in children can be prevented by lifestyle counselling. For more insights into his studies on many different topics related to obesity as well as the key findings of his research click here.
Commenting on the national trend of increasing obesity, Professor Hauner notes that it is not just children who are affected but society as a whole. He assumes that the obesity epidemic cannot be stopped unless people around the globe are able to change their lifestyles. In his view, fundamental changes for a more responsible approach to improved nutrition and lifestyle are needed at a society level. In particular, he is critical of the nearly omnipresent supply of highly processed foods and energy-dense beverages as well as the general lack of physical activity in daily life. He is hopeful that the push for climate change initiatives will also increase debate about how and what we eat.
Further information on the Friedrich Wassermann prize:
Professor Dr. med. Friedrich Wassermann: (13 August 1884 Munich Germany - 16 June 1969 Chicago Illinois) was a native of Munich. He studied medicine in Munich and was appointed to the Department of Anatomy at the LMU at a relatively young age. In 1926, he was the first to describe fatty tissue as a separate organ. Coming from a wealthy Jewish family, he lost his position, against the resistance of his colleagues, under NAZI rule and emigrated to the USA in 1938, where he continued his work at the University of Chicago. His most important student, Franz-Xaver Hausberger, also a Bavarian emigrant, continued this work and the two together were among the first to start physiological studies on fat cell function, which was very innovative at that time, when cell culture methods had not even come into existence yet.
Editing:
Sirkka Spreidler
Else-Kröner-Fresenius-Zentrum
Public Relations
Phone: +49 8161 71 2352
sirkka.spreidler(at)tum.de
Scientific Contact:
Prof. Dr. med. Hans Hauner
Technical University of Munich
Nutritional Medicine
Phone: +49 8161 71 2000
hans.hauner(at)tum.de