Pakistani-born Asifa Akhtar, a recognized researcher on the mechanisms of epigenetic gene regulation in cell biology, has been selected for the Leibniz Prize in Germany.
Remember that the Lebanese Prize is one of the most prestigious awards in Germany.
The news was shared on social media by the Max Planck Society of Germany, a leading research and scientific organization, where Asifa Akhtar is serving as the first international vice president.
"We are thrilled to have two MacPlank Press scientists among the recipients of the Leibniz Prize," he posted.
Very excited that two @maxplanckpress scientists are among the 2021 #LeibnizPreis recipients: our Vice President Asifa Akthar, MPI of Immunobiology & Epigenetics @AsifaAkhtar1 @mpi_ie & Volker Springel, MPI for Astrophysics. Congratulations!🥳😀https://t.co/DMlzwXASxf @dfg_public pic.twitter.com/6IPKy6gtqd
— Max Planck Society (@maxplanckpress) December 10, 2020
They include Asifa Akhtar, vice president of the MPI of Immunology and Epigenetics, and Volker Springle of the MI for Astrophysics, the post said.
Both were also congratulated by the Max Planck Society.
The Godfred Wilhelm Leibniz Prize is considered to be Germany's most important research award, with the winners receiving a maximum prize of 2.5 million euros (over Rs. 49 crore) each.
Launched in 1985 under the Leibniz Program, the award aims to improve the working conditions of best-performing researchers, expand their research opportunities, assist in management work, and especially for early career qualifiers. To help researchers find jobs.
Asifa Akhtar was born in Karachi and received her doctorate in 1997 from the Imperial Cancer Research Fund in London, UK.
She then moved to Germany, where she studied postdoctoral studies from 1998 to 2001 at the Adolf-Buttend-Institute in Munich and at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg.
Asifa Akhtar won the Early Career European Life Sciences Organization Award in 2008, EMBO membership in 2013 and the Feldberg Prize in 2017.
She was also elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences Lepoldina in 2019.
