At the “Giessen International Schizophrenia Symposium”, the world’s leading representatives in the field of schizophrenia research gather every two years in the Hessian university city to discuss the current state of research. As part of the symposium, which is hosted by the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at Giessen University Hospital (UKGM), the internationally renowned Robert Sommer Prize is awarded. It commemorates the German psychiatrist Karl Robert Sommer (1864 to 1937), who was the first director of the Psychiatric Clinic founded in Gießen in 1895. 

Imaging techniques and basic genetics

After a longer interruption due to the Covid 19 pandemic, the Robert Sommer Medal has now been awarded to Prof. Dr. Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg, Chairman of the Board and Medical Director of the Clinic of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at the Central Institute of Mental Health (CIMH) in Mannheim, during the symposium. Meyer-Lindenberg receives the award for his research on imaging techniques and the fundamentals of genetics. He previously worked at the University Hospital in Giessen himself and habilitated at the Medical Faculty of the University of Giessen. The laudation was given by internationally renowned psychiatrist Daniel Weinberger, who conducts research at Johns Hopkins University and the Lieber Institute there.