Ali Ertürk Wins 2024 Falling Walls Award

The Falling Walls Foundation Award is an international recognition given to groundbreaking scientific innovations. It honors individuals or teams whose work has the potential to significantly impact and advance their fields, celebrating research that "breaks walls" and drives transformative change. As part of the Falling Walls Science Summit 2024, Prof. Ali Ertürk, Director of the Institute for Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine (ITERM) at Helmholtz Munich and Full Professor at the LMU, will receive the esteemed Falling Walls Award in the Life Sciences category.

Breaking the Wall of Animal Research With AI

Ertürk’s innovative research tackles the limitations of traditional animal experimentation, which, despite being a cornerstone of biological studies, presents significant ethical, logistical, and scientific challenges. By integrating advanced tissue clearing techniques with AI-driven analysis, Ertürk’s team has developed a method to visualize and analyze entire organs and bodies at the cellular level. This approach not only enhances the quality and quantity of data extracted from fewer experiments but also significantly reduces the reliance on animal testing. The societal impact of this research is profound, as it aims to create detailed digital simulations of biological systems, potentially replacing many animal studies altogether, and offering unexpected insights, such as how brain diseases affect the entire nervous system.

“I am deeply honored to receive the 2024 Falling Walls Award in Life Sciences,” states Prof. Ertürk. “This recognition highlights the potential of our work to not only advance scientific understanding but also to address longstanding ethical concerns in biological research. By integrating AI with advanced imaging, we are paving the way for more ethical, efficient, and comprehensive approaches to studying life.”