2nd July 2025

Science in 120 seconds

He is the winner of the “Life Sciences Bridge Award” 2023 – in this short interview, Johannes Karges provides insights into the impressive progress his research has made since receiving the award.

What were you researching back then? Innovative approaches for the selective treatment of cancer tumors without side effects. What has the award changed? It has made my work more visible, opened up access to international networks, facilitated new collaborations and strengthened my motivation to continue my research. What do you do today? I lead a research group to develop innovative cancer therapies based on metal complexes – with the aim of overcoming the limitations of existing clinical approaches. Milestones since the award ceremony: Ferroptosis-inducing agents: Novel substances that specifically induce cell death in tumor cells (ferroptosis = iron-dependent cell killing) have been successfully developed. Publication in Angewandte Chemie International Edition. Oxygen-independent agents: Therapies that are also effective in tumors in the absence of oxygen – a common challenge in cancer. See publication in Nature Communications. Cuproptosis-inducing agents: Use of copper compounds for the targeted destruction of cancer cells (cuproptosis = copper-mediated cell death). Published in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. Light- and laser-activated drugs: New concepts for the targeted activation of active substances by light or laser – for particularly precise cancer therapies. See Chemical Communications and Inorganic Chemistry Frontiers. Scientific awards: Paul Ehrlich & Ludwig Darmstaedter Young Scientist Award (2024) for advances in biomedical research Dr. Otto Röhm Memorial Foundation Young Scientist Award (2025) for innovative applications in synthetic chemistry