An award to recognize and support researchers within the complement field
As a company invested and dedicated to the complement path, Svar is proud to establish the Svar Complement Excellence Award, aimed at recognizing outstanding contributions to the complement field by scientists and physicians worldwide.
WHAT IS IT?
TheSvar Complement Excellence Award is annually celebrated to acknowledge the remarkable international contributions made by researchers and physicians in the field of complement.
Designed to stimulate and advance complement research globally, this award grants €20,000 to two deserving recipients.
The awards target two different career stages for academics: one for early career researchers (5-12 years post-Ph.D.) and one for medium career researchers (13-20 years post-Ph.D.).
The deadline for the 2025 nominations and applications will be announced shortly.
NOMINATION & EVALUATION PROCESS
We encourage nominations from the community, empowering individuals to spotlight deserving candidates.
A dedicated committee meticulously curates a shortlist and collectively decides on the winners.
WHO IS ELIGIBLE FOR THE AWARDS?
Minimum requirements for those eligible are:
Must have a Ph.D.
One prize is reserved for someone with 5-12 years of active research after Ph.D. completion*.
One prize is reserved for someone with 13-20 years of active research after Ph.D. completion*.
Considerations will be given to the number of publications, impacts, citations, etc., but the final decision will be based on the experts of the complement field in the committee, who will evaluate past and future projects and the effect of the findings on understanding the complement system further and on future therapeutic and/or diagnostic potentials.
* Applicants must provide a dated Ph.D. certificate at the time of application. Leave of absence (such as military service or parental leave) is discounted from the overall career duration.
The Svar Complement Excellence Award serves to increase the awareness of the complement system and help fund important research that increases our understanding of this essential part of the immune system
The Svar Complement Excellence Award committee
The committee consists of two members from the International Complement Society (ICS) and two from the European Complement Network (ECN), as well as last year's awardees and one industry representative. The members of the committee are based on their excellence. However, we will always strive to have a broad representation and to strive for diversity in both the gender and location of our committee members. Names and biographies of the members will be uploaded as information becomes available.
The committee for 2025 consists of:
Prof. Anna Blom, Lund University, Malmö, Sweden
Asso. Prof. Sophie Chauvet, The European Hospital Georges Pompidou, University Paris City, France
Prof. Mihály Józsi, Department of Immunology, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary
Prof. Christoph Schmidt, Institute of Experimental Pharmacology, Institute of Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmacology of Natural Products, University of Ulm, Germany
Dr. Elena Goicoechea de Jorge, Department of Immunology, Ophthalmology and ENT, School of Medicine, Complutense University and Research Institute Hospital 12 de Octubre (imas12), Madrid, Spain
Prof. Trent Woodruff, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
Dr. Elod Korvtely, Principal Scientist, Pharma Research and Early Development (pRED), Basel, Switzerland
Click to learn more about the 2025 committee members
Prof. Anna Blom Lund University, Malmö, Sweden
Anna Blom is a professor of medical protein chemistry at Lund University in Sweden, specializing in the complement system since 1998. She received her basic education in biochemistry and molecular biology from Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland. Her PhD studies in medical and physiological chemistry focused on bikunin-containing proteins, which are plasma protease inhibitors also involved in the organization of the extracellular matrix. After defending her PhD thesis in Uppsala in 1997, she moved to Lund University for postdoctoral training with Prof. Dahlbäck, an expert in translational coagulation research. With long-term salary funding from the Swedish Research Council, she established an independent research group dedicated to studying the complement system, a key component of innate immunity. In 2005, she was appointed a full professor at Lund University.
Blom has made significant contributions to understanding the role of the complement system in various pathologies, including infections, rheumatic diseases, cancer, and immune deficiencies. Her research has primarily focused on complement inhibitors, such as C4b-binding protein, factor I, factor H, and CSMD1. More recently, she has explored the role of complement in diabetes and contributed to the discovery of a novel field of intracellular complement.
Anna Blom is a member of the Swedish Royal Academy of Sciences and the president-elect of the International Complement Society.
Asso. Prof. Sophie Chauvet European Hospital Georges Pompidou, Paris Cité University, France
Dr Sophie Chauvet is an Associate Professor of Nephrology at the European Hospital Georges Pompidou, university Paris Cité. She studied Nephrology and received her Ph.D in Immunology from the University Paris Cité of Paris (France; Under the guidance of Dr Frémeaux Bacchi). During her medical Ph.D, she studied the role of complement in two prototypes of complement-mediated disease, C3 glomerulopathy, and atypical HUS, especially functional consequences of genetic and acquired. After her Ph.D, she moved to the UK for her postdoctoral fellowship and integrated the research unit of Pr Pickering at Imperial College London, where she worked on intra-renal consequences of complement activation. Her current research interests are the role of complement in kidney diseases, the phenotypic expression of diseases, and sensibility to complement inhibitors. Since 2025, she has coordinated the French consortium COMET (COMplement Expertise and Therapeutics), a university Hospital Federation regrouping physicians and researchers involved in complement diseases care and/or research.
Prof. Christoph Schmidt Institute of Experimental Pharmacology, Institute of Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmacology of Natural Products, University of Ulm, Germany
Prof. Christoph Schmidt is a Professor of Experimental Pharmacology at the Institute of Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmacology of Natural Products, University of Ulm Medical Center. He studied pharmaceutical sciences at the LMU Munich (Germany) and received his Ph.D. at the University of Edinburgh (United Kingdom; under the guidance of Prof. Barlow), working on the structure and function of the central part of complement factor H. After his studies, Dr. Schmidt moved to the US for his postdoc, where he worked at the Innate Immunity/protein Chemistry laboratory (under the guidance of Prof. Lambris), working on developing a complement inhibitor.
Since 2017 he has been a group leader at the Institute of Pharmacology of Natural Products and Clinical Pharmacology at Ulm University in Germany. After a short stay as a Professor of Biochemical Pharmacy at the Martin-Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg, he was appointed Professor of Experimental Pharmacology at the University of Ulm Medical Center. He and his team use numerous biochemical and biophysical techniques to investigate the complement system to design new therapeutic molecules. His work has made fundamental contributions to the complement field, which includes his extensive work on how the cascade is organized and regulated.
Prof. Mihály Józsi Department of Immunology, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary
Mihály Józsi is professor of immunology at Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest since 2020. He has been working in the field of complement for over 25 years. He is currently the head of the Department of Immunology at Eötvös Loránd University and director of Bolyai College of the university. He is currently a board member and the secretary of the European Complement Network. Dr. Józsi studied biology at Eötvös Loránd University and received his Ph.D. in immunology from Eötvös Loránd University in 2002, working on the role of complement receptor type 1 on B cells under the supervision of Prof. Anna Erdei. After his studies, he was a postdoctoral fellow in Jena in the laboratory of Prof. Peter Zipfel, working on the function of factor H, particularly in relation to kidney diseases. He was head of a junior research group between 2006 and 2012, focusing on the role of factor H-related proteins and autoantibodies in kidney diseases, before returning to Budapest in 2012 in the frame of the ‘Momentum’ program of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. His main research interest is to understand the roles of factor H family proteins in health and disease, with the aim of translating this knowledge to the benefit of patients.
Prof. Dr. Elena Goicoechea de Jorge
Prof. Trent Woodruff The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
Trent Woodruff is an NHMRC Investigator Fellow leading a research team at The University of Queensland (UQ). He has over 25 years of research training in complement pharmacology and holds an Academic Professorship within the School of Biomedical Sciences, UQ. In 2014, he was presented with an Early Career Award from the International Complement Society and now serves as President of the Society. He is also Chair of the 2025 International Complement Workshop being held in Brisbane, Australia.
Prof Woodruff’s research revolves around complement, its links to inflammasomes, and its role in neurodegenerative diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and Parkinson's disease. Using a series of complement and inflammasome inhibitors developed in collaboration with his group, he elucidates the therapeutic potential of targeting neuroinflammation to treat brain disease. His work has also contributed to a greater understanding of the complexity between anaphylatoxin receptors in modulating the inflammatory response in health and during disease.
Dr. Előd Körtvély, Senior Principal Scientist, Ophthalmology Discovery and Translational Area F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd, Pharma Research and Early Development (pRED), Roche Innovation Center Basel, Switzerland
Előd Körtvély is a Senior Principal Scientist in the Ophthalmology Discovery and Translational Area within Pharma Research and Early Development (pRED) at F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd, located at the Roche Innovation Center in Basel, Switzerland. He studied molecular biology at the University of Szeged, Hungary, where he also completed his Ph.D. in Neurobiology, investigating the regulation of calmodulin gene expression in the brain.
In 2005, Dr. Körtvély transitioned into postdoctoral research, joining the laboratory of Marius Ueffing at the Helmholtz Center Munich, Germany. There, he began focusing on the molecular biology of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). He continued this line of research from 2011 onwards at the Center of Ophthalmology, University Hospital, University of Tübingen, Germany, with a specific emphasis on the role of the ARMS2 protein in AMD pathogenesis. Prompted by GWAS findings highlighting the complement system's role in AMD, his research interests broadened to encompass the complement cascade, particularly the activation mechanisms of the alternative pathway.
Since joining Roche in 2017, Dr. Körtvély has applied his expertise in AMD and complement biology. In his current role, he serves as the disease area lead focusing on the discovery and development of novel therapeutic approaches for dry age-related macular degeneration.
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