Awarded as best of the year: BioMed X Bachelor Student Kim Sigmund receives Fritz-Leonhard-Reuther Award

At BioMed X Institute we constantly work with young talents – Bachelor, Master or PhD students in the field of biotechnology and other sciences, who work during their thesis in BioMed X’s research teams and take their part in contributing to the success of each research project.

One of them is Kim Sigmund who yesterday received the Fritz-Leonhard-Reuther-Award for this year’s best overall mark of all students at the Mannheim University of Applied Sciences. For over 40 years now, the association of friends of the university of Mannheim has awarded the Fritz-Leonhard-Reuther Prize for the promotion of young scientists in the field of technical sciences.

Kim worked during her Bachelor thesis at BioMed X Institute in the oncology research team DDC (DNA Damage in Cancer). This team is interested in extending the list of drugs that take advantage of the crosstalk between DNA repair genes and developing educated designs of targeted therapies for individual tumor types. To dissect synthetic lethality mechanisms of DNA repair in human cells that can also act together with radio or chemotherapy, team DDC combines cancer genomics, genetic screening approaches and pre-clinical studies.  “During her bachelor thesis Kim studied a potential cancer vulnerability that takes advantage of the crosstalk between DNA repair genes”, says Dr. Balca Mardin, Group Leader of research team DDC. “She impressed us all with her curiosity, dedication and hard-work. I am confident that this well-deserved award will be the starting point of her bright career”, Mardin adds.

Kim was born in 1998 in Bensheim. She began her studies in the summer semester 2017 for the Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) in Biotechnology at Mannheim University of Applied Sciences, which she completed at the end of the summer semester 2020 with a final grade 1.0. Her bachelor thesis, which was also graded 1.0, was entitled “Uncovering Novel Synthetic Lethal Interactions in DNA Repair-Deficient Cells for Cancer Treatment”.

Since the beginning of the winter semester 2020 Kim continues her studies in the Master’s program Biotechnology with a focus on Biomedical Science and Technology.

The Association of Friends of the Mannheim University of Applied Sciences promotes the next generation of academics and honors the best university graduates in a year.  The award, endowed with € 2,500, has been awarded since 1978, making it the oldest award at the Mannheim University of Applied Sciences.

We at BioMed X congratulate Kim and wish her success and all the best for the professional and private future – maybe again in upcoming research projects of the BioMed X institute.