News

October 2025

Ahmad wins the Eduard-Martin Prize 2025

We’re thrilled to announce that Dr. Ahmad Aljohmani, has been awarded Saarland University’s Eduard-Martin Prize 2025 for his exceptional PhD thesis, “Cell-specific regulation and function of ADAM10 and ADAM17 during Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection.” Ahmad defended his thesis on 30 April 2024 with summa cum laude. The prize recognizes the scientific excellence, originality, and impact of his work across the university.

In his dissertation, Ahmad investigated how the membrane proteases ADAM10 and ADAM17 orchestrate early inflammatory responses during severe lung infections—and how their activity on extracellular vesicles (exosomes) can propagate systemic effects beyond the lung. By integrating patient samples (bacterial pneumonia and COVID-19) with in vivo and in vitro models, his studies pinpointed divergent roles for ADAM10 (driving hyper-inflammation) and ADAM17 (balancing early responses), offering new avenues for biomarker development and targeted modulation of damaging inflammation without compromising host defense.

Health Hackathon Saar in Saarbrücken

We’re proud of Prof. Dr. Daniela Yildiz and the whole team for their role in the inaugural Health Hackathon Saar in Saarbrücken. Together with colleagues from General Pediatrics (UKS), we tackled real-world challenges in gender-specific medicine for children and adolescents—and the results speak for themselves:

1st place:Gender-specific medication in children and adolescents — innovative concept with a first working app prototype
3rd place:Gender-specific nutrition in children and adolescents — a strong web-based prototype

Special thanks to our collaborators PD Dr. Nasenien Nourkami-Tutdibi and Sibylle Eisinger (UKS), and to the organizers Health.AI – Intelligenter Gesundheitsraum Saar, K8 Institut für strategische Ästhetik, and saaris.

What’s next: Both prototypes will now be advanced in focused working groups. If you’re interested in piloting, co-design, or data partnerships, we’d love to connect.

September 2025

ERJ paper accepted

Our paper has been accepted for publication in the European Respiratory Journal (ERJ) — the flagship journal of the European Respiratory Society and one of the leading, high-selectivity venues in respiratory medicine.

The study “Leukocytic ADAM10 and ADAM17 modulate disease severity and systemic outcome in bacterial and viral pneumonia” shows how leukocytic ADAM10 and ADAM17 tune very early inflammation in severe pneumonia and shape systemic outcomes beyond the lung. Across patient cohorts (bacterial pneumonia and COVID-19), complementary in vivo models, and mechanistic assays, we find that ADAM10 amplifies early inflammatory signaling, whereas ADAM17 supports re-balancing of this response. We further link protease activity carried on extracellular vesicles (EVs) to vascular barrier disruption and cardiac stress, offering a mechanistic explanation for extra-pulmonary complications.

Congrats to the whole team. For details or collaboration inquiries, you are more than welcomed.

April 2025

International Society for Extracellular Vesicles (ISEV) annual conference

Our group, represented by Dr. Ahmad Aljohmani, participated in the ISEV 2025 annual meeting in Vienna. The conference showcased the momentum in extracellular vesicle research, from method standardization and single-vesicle analytics to clinically oriented studies. We had productive discussions with international colleagues, explored new collaborations, and returned with practical input to refine our EV pipelines (including size-based separation and quantitative readouts) and to advance our projects on EV-associated ADAM proteases as biomarkers and therapeutic targets. Many thanks to the organizers and the ISEV community for an outstanding meeting.

DECHEMA’s 3D Cell Culture 2025 symposium

We’re proud that PhD candidate Mariana represented our group at DECHEMA’s 3D Cell Culture 2025: Functional Precision Medicine in Freiburg im Breisgau (April 2025). Supported by a DMM travel grant from The Company of Biologists, she explored how New Approach Methodologies (NAMs)—including patient-derived iPSC organoids, organotypic co-cultures, high-throughput screening, and computational modeling—are improving clinical decision-making beyond traditional animal models.

Key takeaways included applications in precision oncology and advanced human-derived tissue models that are already moving toward the clinic. Mariana returned with fresh ideas for airway-organoid–based drug screening and new connections that are now shaping joint grant applications.

Congratulations, Mariana—and many thanks to DMM/The Company of Biologists for the support!

March 2025

10th German Pharm-Tox Summit

Our group, represented by Prof. Daniela Yildiz, participated in the 10th German Pharm-Tox Summit (25–28 March 2025, Hannover/MHH), the annual joint meeting of Germany’s pharmacology and toxicology societies. The summit brought together researchers, clinicians, and industry partners to discuss rigorous methodology, reproducibility, and clinically relevant advances across pharmacology, toxicology, biomarkers, and trial design. We had productive exchanges that opened doors for new collaborations and follow-up projects, and we return with practical input to refine our workflows and translational efforts. Many thanks to the organizers, speakers, and all contributors for a focused and inspiring meeting.

3. 3R-Symposium – Animal-free Methods in Pharmaceutical Research

Am 18. Oktober 2024 findet das dritte 3R-Symposium an der Universität des Saarlandes statt. Thema sind diesmal „tierfreie Methoden in der pharmazeutischen Forschung“.

Datum: 18. Oktober 2024
Uhrzeit: 9 bis 16 Uhr
Ort: Universität des Saarlandes, Campus Saarbrücken, Gebäude A3 3, Aula, 66123 Saarbrücken

https://www.3r-plattform-saar.de/3r-symposium/

24. September 2024

Mariana Guedes wins two awards at the 2024 European Congress on Alternatives to Animal Testing.

Our PhD student received a Young Scientist Travel award (250€) by the EUSAAT and the 3Rs student grant (1000€) by the European Partnership for Alternative Approaches to Animal Testing to participate in the 2024 EUSAAT congress in Linz, Austria.
She was selected to give an oral presentation about her work entitled "Establishing a lentiviral reporter platform for screening 3D human lung organoids: a proof-of-concept approach.".

The department extends its warmest congratulations.

18. July 2024

Congratulation to Thea Katharina Funke

We are delighted to announce that Thea Katharina Funke has successfully defended her MD-PhD thesis.

We extend our warmest congratulations and best wishes for her continued success in her future career.

11. July 2024

Congratulation to Hakon Heinze

We are pleased to announce that Hakon Klaus Heiko Heinze has successfully defended his MD-PhD thesis titled.

We extend our heartfelt congratulations and best wishes for his future endeavors.

June 2024

Prof Yildiz was recognised as a "Fachpharmakologe DGPT" in June 2024 and is looking forward to the corresponding further training of young scientists.

May 30-June 1st 2024

Flying off to the 2024 Summer Immersion on Innovative Approaches in Science

Our PhD candidate, Mariana Guedes, was awarded a 1500$ travel grant from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine to attend the 2024 Summer Immersion on Innovative Approaches in Science in Washington DC.

Designed to educate the next generation of scientists committed to advancing science ethically using nonanimal methods for research and testing, this 3-day program provided an overview of in vitro, in silico, and in chemico approaches

and their many applications in basic, translational, and regulatory science to replace animals. Mariana presented her latest work on apical-out lung organoids as a poster entitled "Establishing a lentiviral reporter platform for screening 3D human lung organoids: a proof-of-concept approach.".

27. May 2024

Neue Professorin für Molekulare Pharmakologie an der Universität des Saarlandes ab 1. Juni 2024

12.-16. May 2024

Attending the Proteolysis at the membrane – from signaling to disease conference

We are pleased to announce that Daniela Yildiz, Ahmad Aljohmani and Federico Guillermo Gharzia participated in the Proteolysis at the membrane – from signaling to disease conference held in Kloster Seeon, Munich from 12th to 16th of May. This conference brought together experts and scholars from around the world to discuss and share the latest advancements in ectodomain shedding (ADAM, BACE, MMP proteases), intramembrane proteolysis (gamma-secretase, rhomboids, SPPL-proteases, S1P/S2P-proteases, signal-peptidase), protease “modulators” (such as tetraspanins and iRhoms) and inhibitors, substrate biology, proteolytic quality control as well as on therapeutic approaches.

Our participation included Flash talk and two posters with a tittle of “ADAM Proteases: A Pivotal Determinant in the Pathogenesis of Infectious Diseases” For Ahmad and “Ca2+-threshold dependency and spatial determination of ADAM10’s activation” for Federico.

We look forward to applying the insights gained from this conference to our ongoing work and contributing further to the field.

April 2024

Congratulations to Ahmad Aljohmani

We are thrilled to announce that Ahmad Aljohmani has successfully defended his PhD thesis, earning a summa cum laude distinction. This is a remarkable achievement and a testament to his hard work, dedication, and scholarly excellence.

March 2024

Poster prize at the 9th German Pharma-Tox summit

Poster prize at the 9th German Pharma-Tox summit

Ahmad Aljohmani won the best poster prize at the 9th German Pharm-Tox Summit in Munich for his work on ADAM proteases as a therapeutic and prognostic target. The poster was titled “The emerging roles of the proteolytic and non-proteolytic activity of ADAM proteases as a therapeutic and prognostic target in infectious diseases”.