Besides family, friends and employees of the institute, well-known representatives from politics, economy and science were among the numerous guests, e.g. Thüringen’s minister for education, science and culture, Christoph Matschie, Jena’s mayor Dr. Albrecht Schröter, the current president of the Leibniz Association Prof. Dr. Karl Ulrich Mayer (since 2010) and his predecessor Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Ernst Th. Rietschel (2005-2010).
Professor Herrlich, who has been Scientific Director of the Leibniz Institute for Age Research from 2003 to 2011, initiated the reorientation of the institute in 2004 to become the first German research institute to focus on biomedical ageing research and investigate the molecular mechanisms of processes of ageing and age-related diseases. The laudatory speech was given by Prof. Dr. Herbert Jäckle, the vice president of the Max Planck Society.
For his outstanding lifetime achievement and especially for his research results in the field of oncogenesis, Professor Herrlich will be honoured with the Ernst Jung Medal for Medicine in Gold in May 2012.
