Professor Fabian Theis Receives the BBAW Academy Award
Research, Awards |
Fabian Theis is a professor of Mathematical Modeling of Biological Systems at the TUM School of Computation, Information and Technology, as well as Director of the Institute of Computational Biology and Head of the Computational Health Center at Helmholtz Munich. He received the prize, worth 50,000 euros, during the annual ceremony marking Leibniz Day at the BBAW.
Pioneer of AI-Driven Biomedicine
With this Academy Prize, the Academy honors Fabian Theis’s outstanding scientific achievements in the field of computer modeling in biomedicine. His pioneering work on the analysis of gene activity in single cells has had a decisive impact on the field of research and set new standards for the integration of artificial intelligence, machine learning and biomedical research.
Among his most important methodological contributions are innovative methods for reconstructing biological processes from single-cell data, for integrating incomplete cellular information into reference maps of human tissues and for modeling cellular responses to genetic and pharmacological changes. His work is of fundamental importance both for basic biomedical research and for elucidating the causes of disease as well as advancing precision medicine.
Research with Global Impact
Beyond his methodological innovations, Fabian Theis has also shaped single-cell research through the development of powerful software. Among other achievements, his research group developed Scanpy, one of the world’s most widely used platforms for analyzing single-cell data. In addition, he is actively involved in the international Human Cell Atlas Consortium, which is advancing the systematic mapping of human cell types and disease states.
In his laudatory address, Academy President Professor Christoph Markiesch emphasized that Theis’s interdisciplinary work at the intersection of biology, medicine, computer science and biophysics makes him an ideal recipient of the 2026 Academy Prize from the BBAW.
About the Academy
With approximately 400 members, the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities is one of Germany’s most prestigious scientific societies. It promotes scientific exchange across disciplinary and regional boundaries, advises policymakers and society and strengthens collaboration between non-university research institutions and universities. Every two years, it awards the Academy Prize to recognize outstanding scientific achievements in all fields of study.