FEBS awards four medals for outstanding achievements in biochemistry and molecular biology or related sciences to distinguished senior scientists active in European research – the Sir Hans Krebs medal (since 1968), the Datta medal (since 1986), the Theodor Bücher medal (since 1999), and the FEBS Rita Levi-Montalcini medal (since 2026) – with the awardees delivering key plenary lectures at the FEBS Congress. The medals are named after individuals who made important contributions to the early development of molecular life sciences and/or of FEBS.
FEBS is pleased to announce here the four FEBS medal recipients for the 51st FEBS Congress in Riga, Latvia, 3–7 July 2027. These eminent scientists were selected by the event’s Scientific Programme Committee, and we look forward to insightful plenary lectures from them in Riga that highlight the research progress from their labs in key contrasting biomolecular topics.
 |
The FEBS Sir Hans Krebs medal will be presented to Elke Deuerling from the University of Konstanz, Germany, who has made important contributions shaping our view of the chaperoning and processing of nascent polypeptide chains emerging from the ribosome exit tunnel. She will talk at the FEBS Congress 2027 on ‘New principles of co-translational protein biogenesis’. (Photo credit: © Inka Reiter / University of Konstanz.) |
 |
The FEBS Datta medal will go to Johanna Ivaska of the University of Turku, Finland, in recognition of her significant contributions to the discovery of novel integrin activities and the identification of pathways regulating cancer invasion and metastasis. Her plenary lecture at the FEBS Congress 2027 will be on ‘Cell–matrix interactions in cancer progression’. |
 |
The FEBS Theodor Bücher medal will be presented to Vivek Malhotra of the Centre for Genomic Regulation, Barcelona, Spain. He is recognized for seminal contributions to the field of protein secretion including the discovery of TANGO1, a vital transmembrane protein that helps export large, bulky molecules. Vivek Malhotra will speak at the FEBS Congress 2027 on ‘Beyond the dogma: A new pathway controlling collagen secretion and tissue repair’. |
 |
Lastly, the FEBS Rita Levi-Montalcini medal, awarded for outstanding achievements in biochemistry and molecular biology or related areas, with an emphasis on work on the molecular basis of disease or treatment, will go to Sir Adrian Bird, from the University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom. Adrian Bird is known for his pioneering research on DNA methylation and the discovery of CpG islands, and implications for diseases such as Rett syndrome. His plenary lecture at the FEBS Congress 2027 will be on ‘Genetic and epigenetic modulators of the transcriptome’. |
More information
- Find more details on the research work and careers of the four FEBS medal recipients for the FEBS Congress 2027 on the event website’s plenary speakers page.
- Background on the FEBS medals and previous recipients are given on the FEBS website’s medals page.
- Registration for the 51st FEBS Congress opens in October; sign up for Congress alerts on the Congress website.
