Last Friday, the Hamburg Science Award 2025 in the field of “Immunomodulation” was awarded to Professor Dr. Florian Klein, Director of the Institute of Virology at the University Hospital of Cologne, at Hamburg City Hall. The award ceremony took place in the presence of Science Senator Maryam Blumenthal. The award, endowed with 150,000 euros, donated by the Hamburg Foundation for Science, Development and Culture Helmut and Hannelore Greve, honors Klein’s groundbreaking research on antibody-based prevention and therapy of HIV and other viral infections.

The Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Hamburg honored Klein as a leading international expert whose work not only advances infection research, but also opens up new approaches for therapies for cancer and autoimmune diseases. Particularly emphasized was his discovery that the combination of two monoclonal antibodies has a synergistic protective effect against HIV – far beyond the sum of the individual effects. In addition, Klein showed that antibody therapies can have long-term immunomodulatory effects by sustainably strengthening the body’s own antiviral defenses.

Science Senator Blumenthal emphasized the social relevance of the topic and praised Klein’s pioneering work, which is characterized by research ambition and curiosity. Academy President Prof. Dr. Mojib Latif added that Klein’s research exemplifies the motto of the Academy’s 20th anniversary – “Science for Society”. In his laudatory speech, Prof. Dr. Ansgar Lohse, Director of the I. Medical Clinic at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, emphasized the enormous potential of Klein’s work, in particular the synergistic effect of combined antibodies.

Klein, who was born in Essen in 1977 and has been head of the Institute of Virology at the University Hospital of Cologne since 2017, is using the prize money to research the mechanisms why the virus is controlled for years without medication in some HIV patients after antibody therapy. “We suspect an interaction of immune cells and administered antibodies,” Klein explained. His goal is to extend this control to the majority of people living with HIV – an approach that could open up new perspectives for a cure.

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Editor: X-Press Journalistenbüro GbR

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