News

The Hygiene Prize of the Rudolf Schülke Foundation, which is endowed with € 15,000, was awarded this year to working group of Prof Ewa Stürmer, Hamburg for their work "Comparative analysis of biofilm models to determine the efficacy of antimicrobials", published in the International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health.

The Rudolf Schülke Foundation awards the Hygiene Prize biennially to scientists who have achieved remarkable solutions to problems in the area of hygiene, microbiology and preventive medicine.

v.l.t.r Prof Martin Exner (Chairman Rudolf Schülke Foundation), Prof Ewa K. Stürmer (UKE, Hamburg), Prof Ralf Smeets (UKE, Hamburg)

The Hygieia Medal was awarded to Prof. Thomas Mertens,  Ulm / Berlin, for his outstanding lifetime commitment to hygiene, environmental medicine and public health. 

This medal is intended to honour those people who have devoted their lives’ work to hygiene and microbiology.

Prof Thomas Mertens (Chairman of the STIKO) left, Prof Martin Exner (Chairman of the Rudolf Schülke Foundation) right

"A European approach to infection prevention and control goals".

Memorandum based on the Symposium of the Rudolf Schülke Foundation, February 2020.

see publication

In May 2022, the Rudolf Schülke Foundation presents the Hygiene Prize to scientists who have solved specific problems in the areas of hygiene, infection prevention and public und gobal health.
Original work on the development and the application of prevention and control strategies as well as procedures for antiseptic, disinfection, cleaning and their significance for patient safety will be considered.
The Hygiene Prize of the Rudolf Schülke Foundation is awarded on a World-wide basis and endowed with € 15,000.
Papers to be handed in by 15 December 2021.
Announcement Paper

"Chemical disinfection in healthcare settings: critical aspects for the development of global strategies".

Review and discussion based on the Symposium of the Rudolf Schülke Foundation, February 2018.

see publication

Here you will find a detailed press report on the symposium and the award ceremony

Preceding the prize award and the award of the Hygieia Medal, the Rudolf Schülke Foundation organized a two-day symposium on the topic: ”Hygiene Policies in European Health Care Facilities - How to Harmonize the Discrepancies in Europe“.

Hygienists and microbiologists from Germany, France, Italy, Greece, Bulgaria and the Netherlands participated in the symposium.

Click here for the list of participants of the symposium.

Participants' presentations:
B. Christiansen: Situation in Germany Part 1 - R. Cocconi: Situation in Italy - M. Exner: Situation in Europe - P. Hartemann: Situation in France; Fiche descriptive de l’indicateur « Indicateur Composite des Activités de Lutte contre les Infections Nosocomiales » (ICALIN.2); Pondération des items de l’ICALIN 2005 par fonctions et sous-fonctions - U. Heudorf: Situation in Germany Part 2 and Part 3 - A. Tsakris: Situation in Greece - V.B, Voynova-Georgieva: Situation in Bulgaria

If you are interested in a presentation, please get in contact with the author (see list of participants) or the Rudolf Schülke Foundation.

In addition to the presentation of Dr Voynova-Georgieva: Majority of health jobs held by women

The Hygiene Prize of the Rudolf Schülke Foundation, which is endowed with € 15,000, was awarded this year to two young research teams: The Ph.D. students Esther Sib from the "One Health" working group of Dr. med. Dr. agr. Ricarda Schmithausen and Alexander Voigt from the working group “Chemistry” of Dr. rer. nat. Harald A. Färber, Institute for Hygiene and Public Health and Prof. Dr. Gabriele Bierbaum from the Institute for Medical Microbiology, Immunology and Parasitology of Bonn University Hospital, were awarded the Prize for the publication of their highly interesting research work on the assessment of the risk of spreading antibiotic resistances via biofilms in wastewater systems in hospitals (IJHEH 2019;222(4):655-662). Dr. med. Lukas Wissgrill, from the Medical University of Vienna, received the Hygiene Prize for the publication of his influential study on the effectiveness of surveillance cultures and targeted decolonization of colonized very low birth weight infants on the infection rates with methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (Neonatology 2017;112:267-273).

Sib W, Voigt AM, Wilbring G, Schreiber C, Faerber HA, Skutlarek D, Parcina M, Mahn R. Wolf D, Brossart P, Geiser F, Engelhart S, Exner M, Bierbaum G, Schmithausen RM. Antibiotic resistant bacteria and resistance genes in biofilms in clinical wastewater networks. IJHEH 2019;222(4):655-662.

Wisgrill L, Zizka J, Unterasinger L, Rittenschober-Böhm J, Waldhör T, Maikristathis A, Berger A. Active Surveillance Cultures and Targeted Decolonization Are Associated with Reduced Methicillin-Susceptible Staphylococcus aureus Infections in VLBW Infants. Neonatology 2017;112:267-273.

The Rudolf Schülke Foundation awards the Hygiene Prize biennially to scientists who have achieved remarkable solutions to problems in the area of hygiene, microbiology and preventive medicine.

Left to right: Martin Exner, Gabriele Bierbaum, Esther Sib, Ricarda Schmithausen, Alexander Voigt

Martin Exner (left), Lukas Wisgrill (right)

The Hygieia Medal was awarded to Prof. Dr. med. Ursel Heudorf, Frankfurt, for her outstanding lifetime commitment to hygiene, environmental medicine and public health. Her high level of scientific expertise, her ability to find practice-oriented solutions in a partnership approach, her extraordinary involvement in many committees along with her authorship in numerous publications have a role model function.

This medal is intended to honour those people who have devoted their lives’ work to hygiene and microbiology.

Laureate Hygieia Medal 2020 - Martin Exner (left), Ursel Heudorf (right)

Board and advisory board of the Rudolf Schülke Foundation with the prize winners.

From left to right: Konrad Botzenhart (Advisory Board), Peter Heeg (Spokesman Advisory Board), Philippe Hartemann (Advisory Board) Ursel Heudorf (Laureate of the Hygieia Medal), Frank A. Pitten (Deputy Chairman Board), Martin Exner (Chairman Board), Bärbel Christiansen (Advisory Board), Matthias Trautmann (Advisory Board), Gabriele Bierbaum (Hygiene Prize winner), Peter Oltmanns (Board), Ricarda Schmithausen (Hygiene Prize winner), Esther Sib (Hygiene Prize winner), Alexander Voigt (Hygiene Prize winner), Lukas Wisgrill (Hygiene Prize winner)

In February 2020, the Rudolf Schülke Foundation presents the Hygiene Prize to scientists who have solved specific problems in the areas of hygiene, infection prevention and public und gobal health.
Original work on the development and the application of prevention and control strategies as well as procedures for antiseptic, disinfection, cleaning and their significance for patient safety will be considered.
The Hygiene Prize of the Rudolf Schülke Foundation is awarded on a World-wide basis and endowed with € 15,000.

Papers to be handed in by 1 April 2019.

Announcement Paper

Preceding the prize award and the award of the Hygieia Medal, the Rudolf Schülke Foundation organized a two-day symposium on the topic: ”Global Hygiene Strategies for Health Care facilities with special regard to chemical disinfection“.

Hygienists and microbiologists from Germany, Austria, France, India and Singapore participated in the symposium.

Click here for the list of participants of the symposium.

Participants' presentations:

S. Bhattacharya: Chemical disinfection in hospital hygiene in India - M. Exner: Global Hygiene Strategies for Health Care facilities with special regard to chemical disinfection - J. Gebel: Chemical Disinfection - Testing and listing in germany and europe - P. Hartemann: Chemical disinfection from the perspektive of emerging & newly identified health risk - P. Heeg: Chemical disinfection as integral part of hospital hygiene in Germany - M.L. Ling: Disinfection in Hospital Hygiene in Asia - P. Oltmanns: Chemical Disinfection and Biocidal Product Regulation from the EU perspective - R. Schmithausen: Chemical disinfection in agro industrial areas - K. Steinhauer: Chemical disinfection in hospital hygiene

If you are interested in a presentation, please get in contact with the author (see list of participants) or the Rudolf Schülke Foundation

Participants of the symposium 2015 left to right: PD Dr. F.A. Pitten, Dr. R. Schmithausen, Prof. A. Kramer; Prof. M. Trautmann; Prof. P. Heeg, Prof. P. Hartemann, Prof. M. Exner, W. Merkens, Dr. L.M. Ling, Dr. P. Oltmanns, Prof. H.G. Sonntag, Prof. M. Rotter, Dr. J. Gebel, C. Ilschner, Dr. S. Bhattacharya, Dr. K. Steinhauer

On behalf of the Rudolf Schülke Foundation the Hygiene Prize was awarded by the chairman of the executive committee, Professor Martin Exner, MD, in Hamburg on 9 February 2018.

This year, the Rudolf-Schülke-Stiftung awarded its renowned hygiene prize of €15,000 to the research team.of Dr. Bernhard Krismer, Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Andreas Peschel and Dr. Alexander Zipperer, Interfakultäres Institut für Mikrobiologie und Infektionsmedizin Tübingen (IMIT),for their excellent and innovative work „Human commensals producing a novel antibiotic impair pathogen colonization“ (Nature 2016;535:511-516). This work on the novel antibiotic active ingredient Lugdunin was unanimously selected for the prize by the jury from the 22 first-class publications submitted.

The Rudolf Schülke Foundation awards the Hygiene Prize biennially to scientists who have achieved remarkable solutions to problems in the area of hygiene, microbiology and preventive medicine.

Laureates Hygiene Prize 2018 left to right: Alexander Zipperer, Martin Exner ( Chairman Rudolf Schülke Foundation), Bernhard Krismer

Along with the Hygiene Prize the Foundation awards the Hygieia Medal every two years. This medal is intended to honour those people who have devoted their lives’ work to hygiene and microbiology.

This year it was awarded to Philippe Hartemann, Professor for Public Health.

Laureate Hygieia Medal 2018 - Martin Exner (left), Philippe Hartemann (right)

left to right: Peter Oltmanns (Board Member Rudolf Schülke Foundation), Christian Last (Managing Director schülke & mayr GmbH), Martin Exner (Chairman Rudolf Schülke Foundation), Alexander Zipperer, Bernhard Krismer, Philippe Hartemann, Frank. A. Pitten (Associate Chairman Rudolf Schülke Foundation)

"Antibiotic resistance: What is so special about multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria?"

Review and discussion based on the Symposium of the Rudolf Schülke Foundation, November 2015.

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Preceding the prize award and the award of the Hygieia Medal, the Rudolf Schülke Foundation organized a two-day symposium on the topic: ”Worldwide Significance of Gram-Negative Antibiotic Resistant Rods: Epidemiology, Prevention and Control Strategies“.

Hygienists and microbiologists from Germany, Austria, France and India participated in the symposium.

Click here for the list of participants of the symposium.

Participants' presentations: 

S. Bhattacharya: Relevance of Gram-negative pathogens for public health - Situation in India - M. Exner: Introduction and objective of the symposium - M. Exner: Wo steht die Krankenhaushygiene 2025 - J. Gebel: Disinfection Germany - CEN - P. Goroncy-Bermes: Efficacy of Biocides against Gram-negative Bacteria - M. Mielke: Common challenges and future needs to combat antimicrobial resistance - Situation in germany - P. Oltmanns: Restrictions in the use of biocides for disinfection procedures - B. Ross: Infectiological consequences of antibiotic-resistant Gram-negative - R. Schmithausen: One-health concept and risk management in agriculture

If you are interested in a presentation, please get in contact with the author (see list of participants) or the Rudolf Schülke Foundation.

Participants of the symposium 2015 left to right: H.G. Sonntag, R. Schmithausen, M. Exner, M. Trautmann, P. Heeg, W. Merkens, P. Goroncy-Bermes, P. Oltmanns, M. Rotter, A. Kramer, B. Christiansen, C. Ilschner, J. Gebel, P. Hartemann, S. Bhattacharya

On behalf of the Rudolf Schülke Foundation the Hygiene Prize was awarded by the chairman of the executive committee, Professor Martin Exner, MD, in Hamburg on 27 November 2015.

The Hygiene Prize, worth €15,000,- was shared between two scientists. Either of them is Tim Maisch, BSc (Regensburg, Germany) with his work titled "Fast and Effective Photodynamic Inactivation of Multiresistant Bacteria by Cationic Riboflavin Derivates" and the other is Matthias Willmann, MD (Tübingen, Germany) with his work titled "Analysis of a long-term outbreak of XDR Pseudomonas aeruginosa: a molecular epidemiological study”.

The Rudolf Schülke Foundation awards the Hygiene Prize biennially to scientists who have achieved remarkable solutions to problems in the area of hygiene, microbiology and preventive medicine.

Laureates Hygiene Prize 2015 left to right: M. Willmann, T. Maisch, M. Rotter (Spokesman advisory council Rudolf Schülke Foundation), M. Exner (Chairman Rudolf Schülke Foundation), P. Heeg (Associate Chairman Rudolf Schülke Foundation), A. Späth

Along with the Hygiene Prize the Foundation awards the Hygieia Medal every two years. This medal is intended to honour those people who have devoted their lives’ work to hygiene and microbiology.

This year it was awarded to Professor Elaine Larson, Columbia University, U.S.A.

Laureate Hygieia Medal 2015 - M. Rotter (as representative of E. Larson, left), M. Exner (right)

"Lesser-known or hidden reservoirs of infection and implications for adequate prevention strategies: Where to look and what to look for".

Review and discussion based on the Symposium of the Rudolf Schülke Foundation, November 2013.

See Publication

Preceding the prize award and the award of the Hygieia Medal, the Rudolf Schülke Foundation organized a two-day symposium on the topic: "Unknown or Hidden Reservoir of Infection and Prevention Strategy" .

Hygienists and microbiologists from Germany, Austria, France, England and the United States participated in the symposium.

Click here for the list of participants of the symposium.

Participants' presentations:
S. Bloomfield: Risk of Laundry - M. Exner: Introduction and the objective of the Symposium - Unknown or hidden reservoirs of infection and prevention strategy - M. Exner: Solution and biofilms - M. Exner: Drainage sinks and Klebsiella oxytoca - M. Exner: EHEC- Outbreak Management –Learning for the Future – or - „never waste a good crisis“ - M. Exner: Disinfectants and detergents as reservoir of pathogens and prevention strategies - M. Exner: Outbreak Management and Prevention Strategies of the German federal commission of health care hygiene and infection prevention ( KRINKO ) - H.C. Flemming: The eternal life of bacteria - P. Hartemann: Water associated Reservoirs - P. Heeg: Medical devices as reservoirs of healthcare associated infection and prevention strategies - I. Krämer: The risk of in-use microbial contamination of intravenous products - W.A. Rutala: Unknown or Hidden Reservoirs of Infection and Prevention Strategies

If you are interested in a presentation, please get in contact with the author (see list of participants) or the Rudolf Schülke Foundation.

Participants of the symposium left to right: H.G. Sonntag, M. Exner, P. Hartemann, I. Krämer, M. Rotter, P. Oltmanns, . A. Rutala, M. Trautmann, P. Heeg, S. F. Bloomfield, P. Goroncy-Bermes, C. Ilschner

On behalf of the Rudolf Schülke Foundation the Hygiene Prize was awarded by the chairman of the executive committee, Professor Martin Exner, MD, in Hamburg on 29 November 2013.

The Hygiene Prize, worth €15,000,- was shared between two scientists. Either of them is Oliver Schildgen, Köln with his work titled "Detection of Head-to-Tail DNA Sequences of Human Bocavirus in Clinical Samples" and the other is Christian Mair, Innsbruck with his work titled "N-Chlorotaurine, a Long-Lived Oxidant Produced by Human Leukocytes, Inactivates Shiga Toxin of Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli”.

Laureates Hygiene Prize 2013 - left to right: M. Nagl, M. Exner (Chairman Rudolf Schülke Foundation), M. Rotter (Board spokesman Rudolf Schülke Foundation), Ch. Mair, O. E. Schildgen, V. Schildgen, J. Lüsebrink

Along with the Hygiene Prize the Foundation awards the Hygieia Medal every two years. This medal is intended to honour those people who have devoted their lives’ work to hygiene and microbiology.

This year the medal was awarded to Professor Sally Florence Bloomfield, Director of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Professor William A. Rutala, Director of the Department of Medicine UNC School of Medicine Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Laureate Hygieia Medal 2013 - S. F. Bloomfield (left), M. Exner (right)

Laureate Hygieia Medal 2013 - W. A. Rutala (left), M. Exner (right)