Our journals regularly sponsor prizes for the best poster or oral presentations at select international conferences. The prizes recognize excellence in the field, with an emphasis on young and aspiring scientists.
Macromolecular Colloquium | Freiburg, Germany | 26 February 2021
Award sponsored by Macromolecular Journals for the best ePoster presentations
Leon Bixenmann from the Max-Planck-Institute for Polymer Research, Germany, for his poster entitled Amphiphilic Poly(esteracetal)s as Dual pH- and Enzyme-Responsive Micellar Immunodrug Delivery Systems.
Research summary: With both acid-labile acetal and base-labile ester functionalities in their backbone, poly(esteracetal)s provide interesting dual pH-responsive degradation profiles ideal for biomedical applications.
Josefine Meurer from the Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany, for her poster entitled Shape-memory metallopolymers based on two metal-ligand interactions.
Research summary: Shape-memory polymers are stimuli responsive materials, which are able to “memorize” their permanent shape. A systematic library of metallopolymer networks is presented, in which the overall ligand content, the content of the stable phase and the nature of the metal ion were varied.
HIPS Symposium 2021 | Saarbrücken, Germany | 20 May 2021
Award sponsored by Advanced Therapeutics for the best ePoster presentations
Jonathan Cramer from the Heinrich-Heine-University of Düsseldorf for his poster Poly-L-lysine Glycoconjugates Inhibit DC-SIGN-mediated Attachment of Pandemic Viruses.
Research summary: The C-type lectin receptor DC-SIGN contributes to virus internalization and dissemination in many viral infections, such as SARS-CoV-2, ebola, and HIV. Mannose-functionalized poly-L-lysine glycoconjugates efficiently inhibit the binding of viral glycoproteins to DC-SIGN-presenting cells with picomolar affinity. In a cellular model system, this effect persists for a duration of up to 6h after treatment.
Olga Kynyavskaya and Alexey Gurevich from the St. Petersburg State University, Russia, with their poster Computational discovery of putative biosynthetic gene clusters of nonribosomal peptides.
Research summary: The authors developed a software tool for matching known nonribosomal peptides to their putative biosynthetic gene clusters predicted computationally via the analysis of bacterial genomes. This work will facilitate understanding how microbes produce antibiotics and other biomedically important compounds and pave the way for discovering novel nonribosomal peptides.
Theresa Lohr and Nicolas J. Scheuplein from the Julius-Maximilians-University, Würzburg, Germany, with their poster Broad-spectrum Activity of Macrophage Infectivity Potentiator Inhibitors against Gram-negative Bacteria and Parasite.
Research summary: The macrophage infectivity potentiator (Mip) protein is a peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerase (PPIase) enzyme that is important for virulence in a variety of pathogenic microorganisms. Mip can be inhibited by small molecule compounds with a pipecolic acid backbone, which prove to be promising broad-spectrum drug candidates.
Jelena Konstantinović from the Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS), Germany for her poster entitled Discovery of Nanomolar Inhibitors of the Virulence Factor LasB from Pseudomonas aeruginosa using Rational Design.
Research summary: Treating bacterial infections is becoming increasingly challenging. In our work, we focus on pathoblockers — agents capable of blocking bacterial virulence by disarming the pathogen. In this work, highly potent and metabolically stable inhibitors of elastase LasB hold potential as novel therapeutics for Pseudomonas aeruginosa-derived infections.
Bayreuth Polymer Symposium | Bayreuth, Germany | 20 September 2021
Award sponsored by Macromolecular Chemistry and Physics for the best ePoster presentations
Derek Kiebala from the Adolphe Merkle Institute in Fribourg, Switzerland, for his poster entitled Deformation Signaling in Polymeric Materials via Supramolecular Interactions.
Research Summary: Supramolecular linkages can endow polymeric materials with enhanced properties and functionalities. However, direct monitoring of the formation and dissociation of such linkages during processing, under load or during supramolecular polymerization is difficult. The authors have developed a new UPy-bispyrene (UPB) materials that change their fluorescence in response to mechanical stresses.
Marius Schöttle from the University Bayreuth, Germany, for his poster entitled Gradient colloidal crystals as temperature integrating optical sensors.