Schönheimer Medal

Rudolf Schönheimer (* May 10, 1898 Berlin; † September 11, 1941 New York) was a German-American biochemist who emigrated to the USA in 1933 after studying medicine in Berlin and working at the universities of Leipzig and Freiburg.

In 1933, Schönheimer published a groundbreaking study on cholesterol metabolism, demonstrating, using an animal model, that cholesterol homeostasis is subject to strict feedback in relation to dietary intake (Schoenheimer, R., and F. Breusch. 1933. Synthesis and destruction of cholesterol in the organism. J. Biol. Chem. 103: 439–448). These early experiments anticipated the classic studies by Jacob and Monod on the mechanisms of negative feedback in bacteria by many years and became fundamental to understanding cholesterol as a risk factor for the development of arteriosclerosis.

In this honor, the German Society for Arteriosclerosis Research awards the Schönheimer Medal annually.

*The medal was not awarded in 2020 and 2021 due to the shortened and modified annual meetings caused by the coronavirus pandemic.