Empa researcher honored for Science Breakthrough of the Year

L'implant en hydrogel gonfle d'environ deux fois sa taille initiale lorsqu'il est en contact avec un liquide et se dissout sans douleur et sans difficulté. Image : Alexandre Anthis / Inge Herrmann / Wiley

Inge Herrmann heads a research team at Empa's Particles-Biology Interactions laboratory in St. Gallen as well as the Ingenuity Lab at the University of Zurich and Balgrist University Hospital and is also a professor at the Department of Mechanical Engineering at ETH Zurich. In one of her research projects, her team developed a reversible hydrogel implant that has now won the Falling Walls award, which is intended to prevent the widespread abdominal disease endometriosis in women and might also act as contraceptive. Inge Herrmann has already received numerous awards for her innovative research, which promotes the early detection and treatment of medical problems in fields such as surgery and gynecology and produces clinical applications and successful start-ups.

Alexander Jessernig, gagnant du « Falling Walls Lab Switzerland », a présenté à Berlin « SensAL », un capteur qui prévient de complications mortelles après des opérations dans la cavité abdominale. Image : ETH Zurich

Empa researcher Alexander Jessernig was invited to present his work on the Falling Walls stage in Berlin. As the winner of the Falling Walls Lab Switzerland, he was given the opportunity to present the SensAL sensor in the Emerging Talents category. SensAL warns quickly and precisely of life-threatening complications after abdominal surgery. The Empa researcher from Herrmann's team recently received the Empa Innovation Award for his innovative diagnostic technology and was also nominated for the Spark Award of ETH Zurich.