Klüh Foundation Innovation Prize 2025

The €25,000 Innovation in Science and Research Prize from the Klüh Foundation goes this year to scientist Prof. Dr. Jutta Gärtner. The director of the Clinic for Children and Adolescents at University Medical Center Göttingen is honored for her pioneering research into neurometabolic and neurodegenerative diseases in children and adolescents. Her work focuses on rare conditions such as childhood dementia and pediatric multiple sclerosis. The goal of her work is to decode the genetic and molecular causes of these diseases and thus lay the foundation for new therapeutic approaches.

Award Ceremony at Düsseldorf City Hall

Established in 1987, the prize was presented in the historic town hall of the City of Düsseldorf in the presence of Mayor Dr. Stephan Keller. The laudation was delivered by Prof. Dr. Bettina Rockenbach, President of the National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina.

About Prof. Dr. Jutta Gärtner

Prof. Dr. Jutta Gärtner is regarded as one of the leading scientists in neuropediatrics. She studied and earned her doctorate in medicine at the Université catholique de Louvain in Belgium and at the University of Hamburg. She then spent several years researching and working at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, USA, before moving to Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf in 1993. There she completed her habilitation in 1995 and obtained her specialist certification in pediatrics. Since 2002 she has headed the Clinic for Children and Adolescents at University Medical Center Göttingen.

Research Focus and Achievements

A focus of her scientific work lies in researching rare neurometabolic and neurodegenerative diseases in childhood and adolescence. Together with her team she has identified numerous genetic causes of these diseases and created first successful therapies. In 2008 she co-founded the German Center for Multiple Sclerosis in Childhood and Adolescence with Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Brück and has headed the Center for Rare Diseases Göttingen (ZSEG) since 2017. As spokeswoman for the German Center for Child and Youth Health (DZKJ) and member of the presidency of the National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina she is closely involved in scientific networks nationally and internationally. She is also active in numerous specialist committees, including the Commission for Medicines for Children and Adolescents at the BfArM, the scientific advisory board of the Von Behring-Röntgen Foundation and the medical advisory board of the German Multiple Sclerosis Society.

Recognition and Honors

Her outstanding research achievements have already been honored many times, including the Hamburg Science Prize of the Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Hamburg, the Gerhard Hess Prize of the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the Adalbert Czerny Prize of the German Society for Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.

About the Klüh Foundation

At Klüh, responsibility has always been one of the company's values—toward employees, the environment, society and the market. These are also the four pillars on which the company's CSR strategy is built. The Klüh Foundation is part of Klüh's corporate commitment to society. Founded in 1986 on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Düsseldorf family business Klüh Service Management by company owner Josef Klüh, the foundation for the promotion of innovation in science and research has since awarded foundation prizes totaling more than €900,000. In recent years, the foundation has supported a wide range of medical research projects.

About Klüh Service Management

Klüh Service Management GmbH is an internationally active multi-service provider from Düsseldorf. Founded in 1911, the family-owned company has decades of experience in infrastructural services. In the competence areas of Cleaning, Catering, Clinic Service, Security, Personnel Service, Airport Service and Integrated Services, both individual services and multi-service concepts are offered. The company achieves revenue of over €1 billion in six countries with more than 46,000 employees (2024). Further information at www.klueh.de.

Source: Landeshauptstadt Düsseldorf, October, 24, 2025 | City Hall Düsseldorf