DOC Research Prize Awarded to SFB 1607 Speaker Prof. Claus Cursiefen

SFB 1607 warmly congratulates its speaker, Univ.-Prof. Dr. Claus Cursiefen, on receiving the 2025 DOC Research Prize from the German Society of Ophthalmic Surgery (DOC) at the 37th Annual Meeting in Nuremberg. The prize honors his pioneering contributions to corneal transplantation surgery and transplant immunology.

In his laudation, Dr. Peter Hoffmann described Prof. Cursiefen as “a leading expert in corneal research and surgery,” emphasizing that his work has helped shape German ophthalmology on the international stage. Under his leadership, the University Eye Clinic Cologne has become Europe’s largest center for corneal transplantation.

Crucially, many of the award‑winning studies were carried out within the DFG Research Unit FOR 2240 and our own Collaborative Research Centre SFB 1607 at the Cologne Department of Ophthalmology. Following SFB 539 in Erlangen (1997–2009), SFB 1607 is only the second ophthalmology‑focused CRC ever funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG).

We celebrate this distinction as fresh motivation for our shared mission to advance ocular health worldwide.