LMU President receives Rolf Luft Award

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he Karolinska Institute has announced that Professor Matthias H. Tschöp, President of LMU Munich, together with his research partner Professor Richard Dennis DiMarchi of Indiana University (Bloomington, USA), will receive the Rolf Luft Award 2026. The prize is regarded as the world’s most prestigious award in diabetology and endocrinology.

The jury honors the “outstanding, groundbreaking scientific contribution in diabetes and obesity” of DiMarchi and Tschöp in the field of diabetes and obesity, “with basic research leading to important clinical implications.” Specifically, the foundation recognizes their “advances in peptide chemistry and the development of novel dual and triple agonists for the treatment of diabetes and obesity.”

“It has been a great privilege to share this journey with Richard DiMarchi. Our collaboration, now spanning several decades, shows what is possible when interdisciplinary science is pursued with both scientific rigor and curiosity,” said Professor Tschöp. He added: “I am deeply grateful that this work is being recognized with this prestigious award. Seeing the impact that our discoveries in gut hormone biology, advances in peptide chemistry, and the development of novel agonists are having on patient care and societal health fills me with great humility.”

According to the Karolinska Institute, Professors Richard DiMarchi and Matthias Tschöp discovered “a new class of drugs with unprecedented efficacy in treating diabetes and obesity.” Several versions of these so-called gut hormone poly-agonists have advanced through clinical trials, says the Institute. One representative of this drug class, containing the same active peptide ingredient, tirzepatide, developed with an industry partner, received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2022 for the treatment of type 2 diabetes and in 2023 for the treatment of obesity.

The discovery and validation of these highly effective drugs for obesity by DiMarchi and Tschöp “have accomplished a transformative breakthrough,” the Institute notes. “Additionally, it has set a direction in drug discovery for complex diseases when there is no effective therapy and more than one integrated mechanism in action might prove equally effective as demonstrated in obesity.”

The award ceremony, symposium, and prize lecture are scheduled for September 10, 2026.

About the Award:

The Rolf Luft Award is awarded annually, initially by the Karolinska Institute, and since 2005 by the Rolf Luft Foundation for Diabetes Research to outstanding researchers active in endocrinology, metabolism and diabetes research. The Rolf Luft Award (Rolf Luft’s prize) is given for outstanding efforts in research and education in line with the foundation’s aim to support future research and education in diabetes and endocrinology.

Karolinska Institutet: Professor Richard DiMarchi and Professor Matthias Tschöp receives the Rolf Luft Award 2026