Deutsche Rheuma-Liga honours three female scientists from the DRFZ
PD Dr. Anne Regierer, Dr. Ping Shen, and Dr. Yvette Meißner are among the winners of this year’s Deutsche Rheuma-Liga awards.
On 14 November 2025, Anne Regierer, head of the research group Registry Research in Rheumatology, was awarded the Rosemarie Germscheid Foundation Research Prize for her work on participation and patient involvement. Ping Shen, from Max Löhning’s research group, received a “Ideenwettbewerb” prize from the Deutsche Rheumastiftung for a new way to treat rheumatic diseases that are currently incurable. Yvette Meißner, from Anja Strangfeld’s research group, was awarded the project prize for participatory research in health services research also by the Deutsche Rheumastiftung.
Congratulations to the three awardees!
Anne Regierer: Research Award from the Rosemarie Germscheid Foundation
In rheumatic diseases, patient-reported parameters play a central role in joint therapy decisions. In a pilot project, Anne Regierer and colleagues developed and implemented a process that connects a phone app to the RABBIT-SpA disease registry, allowing collection of patient-reported data directly from those affected.This process is designed to comply with data protection regulations and is as simple and low-effort as possible for rheumatology facilities and patients.
Rosemarie Germscheid Foundation Research Award
The Rosemarie GermscheidFoundation honours projects that address the care needs of people with rheumatic diseases or fundamental issues such as diagnosis, disease development, prevention and treatment options. Projects in the areas of self-help research, social participation, and promoting health literacy among those affected are also recognised. The focus is always on a participatory approach that actively involves patients in the research. The prize is endowed with 5.000 euros.
Ping Shen: Deutsche Rheumastiftung’s “Ideenwettbewerb”
Osteoarthritis is a serious degenerative joint disease that affects almost 600 million people worldwide and currently has no cure. Ping Shen is investigating degradation products of joint cartilage as triggers of osteoarthritis. These molecules appear to cause strong inflammatory reactions in the joint via immune receptors, such as Toll-like receptors (TLRs), thereby advancing the disease process. These findings could form the basis for a new, uniformly effective therapy against osteoarthritis.
“Ideenwettbewerb” by the Deutsche Rheumastiftung
The Deutsche Rheumastiftung’s “Ideenwettbewerb” is an annual funding competition that has been running since 2011 and supports creative scientific concepts in rheumatology. The aim is to motivate young researchers in particular to develop new, interdisciplinary approaches that improve understanding of rheumatic diseases, expand diagnostics, stimulate new therapies, or explore gender-related differences. Each year, the foundation sets different priorities and carefully reviews all submitted ideas in order to promote realistic and innovative projects. The three best ideas submitted are awarded prize money of €3,000.
Yvette Meißner – Project award from the Deutsche Rheumastiftung
As part of the project led by Yvette Meißner, in collaboration with Dr. Felix Mühlensiepen from Brandenburg Medical School and the Deutsche Rheuma Liga researchers, Birgit Arndt and Annika Spindler, the information needs and barriers of women with inflammatory rheumatic diseases during family planning, pregnancy, and breastfeeding are being investigated. The work forms the basis for targeted counselling and the improvement of information services.
Project Award from the Deutsche Rheumastiftung
In 2025, the Deutsche Rheumastiftung awarded three prizes, each endowed with €10,000, for projects that provide new impetus for the treatment of inflammatory rheumatic diseases and contribute to a better understanding, improved care, or greater social awareness of these diseases. Projects are funded in the areas of “Rheumatic Disease & Age (65+),” “Rheumatic Disease & Society,” “Rheumatological Care & Social Barriers,” and “Rheumatic Disease and the Microbiome.” One prize is explicitly reserved for participatory research in which patients are actively involved.
Photo: Stephan Hoffstadt
