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Christina Watschinger Presented with Science Award

The JKU physician focuses on how chronic inflammatory bowel diseases develop.

From left: The two award winners: Dr. Wagner (Graz) and Christina Watschinger, MSc.
From left: The two award winners: Dr. Wagner (Graz) and Christina Watschinger, MSc.

Christina Watschinger, MSc., supervises a research group at the University Department of Gastroenterology (dept. head: Prof. Alexander Moschen) and recently received the ÖGGH Science Prize in the category of "Basic Research" in recognition of her outstanding work. The award is accompanied with prize money in the amount of € 37,500 which will go toward funding her project titled "Einfluss von über die Muttermilch übertragenem Lipocalin 2 auf die Etablierung und Reifung des frühkindlichen Mikrobioms und des Darmimmunsystems" which focuses on just how chronic inflammatory bowel diseases develop.

Nutrition and early childhood factors (that could also include a genetic predisposition) can result in complex interaction between external influences and intestinal flora as well as the intestinal immune system, leading to the onset of the disease. The research group has been able to show that an immune protein called lipocalin 2 can counteract an inflammation-induced imbalance of the intestinal flora. The group now plans to explore how "lipocalin 2 transmitted through breast milk" influences how a "healthy intestinal microbiome" is created in early childhood and the resulting formation of an intestine-associated immune system.

The ÖGGH (Austrian Society of Gastroenterology Hepatology) sponsors two science awards – one award is presented to a base-knowledge research project and one award is presented to a clinical research project.