Birgit Schittek receives Händel prize for animal welfare 2026

CMFI Associated Scientist Birgit Schittek from the University Dermatology Clinic and the Faculty of Medicine in Tübingen has been awarded with the Ursula M. Händel prize for animal welfare 2026 by the German Research Foundation (DFG). The molecular medicine specialist and leader of the group Experimental Dermatology receives the renowned price for the development of innovative 3D models of the human skin. With these, illnesses such as psoriasis, atopic dermatitis or skin cancer can be researched under highly realistic conditions. Using them, animal testing can be replaced in numerous areas of research.

"The award is a great appreciation for the long-standing work of our entire team. Our goal is to develop models that replicate the human skin as well as its illnesses as realistically as possible. The more informative such models get, the more we can follow our research questions directly on the human system and thus also replace animal testing", says Birgit Schittek.

The DFG applauds especially the broad applicability of the models developed in Tübingen as well as their large potential for dermatological research. Schittek's work thus makes an important contribution to the principle of 3R (Replace, Refine, Reduce) – especially when it comes to the part of Replacing animal testing with alternative methods.

The award has been presented on October 2nd in Berlin. Birgit Schittek shares the prize worth a total of 80.000€ with Christa Thöne-Reineke of the Freie Universität Berlin. 

After a news text by the University Hospital