© AIT/Christian Husar
It does not matter whether the issue is methods designed to prevent the spread of skin cancer, “talking fungal cultures” or sustainable ways to feed the growing population of the world. Eight women and four men from five different countries and eight different institutions presented their innovative projects to a jury in Vienna. The winner was Nicole Heinzl of the Medical University of Vienna with her presentation on “Breaking the Wall of Therapy Resistance in Cancer”. Donald Ruggiero Lo Sardo (also Medical University of Vienna) came in second with his presentation on “Breaking the Wall of Health Care Divide”. A “second second place” was awarded to Cosima Prahm (Medical University of Vienna) for “Breaking the Wall of Frustrating Prosthesis Control”. Helga Nowotny, former President of the European Research Council, served as the jury president.
As every year, the finals of the Falling Walls Lab take place in Berlin in November. The Falling Walls Conference was held in 2009 for the first time on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Each year 20 of the world’s leading researchers are invited to Berlin to present their breakthroughs in science and research and show solutions to global challenges such as climate and energy generation, health, nutrition, safety as well as fair and sustainable business management.
