On the occasion of the 51st German Food Chemistry Days in Bonn, Prof Dr Thomas Henle, Chair of Food Chemistry at the Dresden University of Technology, was awarded the Joseph König Memorial Medal on 22 August. This prize, endowed with 7500 euros, has been awarded by the Board of the German Chemical Society (GDCh) every two years since 1951 to outstanding personalities who have rendered special services to scientific development and to the national and international promotion and recognition of food chemistry. The previous list of honourees is thus a kind of "Hall of Fame" of food chemistry in Germany. Prof. Henle was honoured for his fundamental work on chemical changes during food processing and for his research on the physiological significance of protein modifications, carbohydrates and bioactive peptides.

Through his interdisciplinary studies on the connection between food, its processing and human health, among other things in connection with high blood pressure and allergies, as well as the current work on the influence of ingredients of processed food on the human intestinal flora, he has broken new scientific ground in the field of food research and published internationally visible work. The working group gained particular fame through the elucidation of the antibacterially effective ingredients of New Zealand manuka honey.Henle had a decisive influence on the Food Chemistry Society through his activities on the Executive Board, of which he was the Federal Chairman from 2005 to 2010, here above all through the promotion of young scientists, which he decisively advanced.

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Prof. Henle has held Chair of Food Chemistry at the Dresden University of Technology since 1998 and has since established a centre for food chemistry education and research there, which is now one of the largest in Germany. He was also active as a co-founder and shareholder of two TUD start-up: Purapep GmbH, which develops and distributes functional feeds based on the research results of his research group, and of "Lohrmanns Brew", Germany's first university brewery, which is currently building its own brewery restaurant in Dresden.

"The award of the Joseph König Memorial Medal is an outstanding appreciation for our scientific work, but especially for the many people with whom I have had the privilege of working as a team over the years," states Prof. Henle.

Media inquiries to:
Prof. Thomas Henle
Chair of Food Chemistry
TU Dresden
Tel. 0351-463-34647
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