Ioannis Lambris, a Greek immunologist at the University of Pennsylvania who grew up in Rodavgi, Arta, has won the DGKL 2...

Ioannis Lambris, a Greek immunologist at the University of Pennsylvania who grew up in Rodavgi, Arta, has won the DGKL 2026 Biochemical Analysis Prize from the German Society for Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine in Hamburg. He shares the award with German professor Fabian Theis. Of the 42 scientists who have received this prize since its founding, eight went on to win a Nobel Prize. The recognition is for work Lambris began in 1996, when he developed compstatin, a small cyclic peptide that blocks the complement protein C3. Most of his peers thought it could not be done. His funding application was turned down six times before it was finally approved on the seventh submission. That research eventually led to pegcetacoplan, the first approved C3 inhibitor, now used to treat paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria, C3 glomerulopathy, and geographic atrophy. A next-generation compound, AMY-101, is showing strong results in clinical trials for periodontal inflammation. Lambris donated the entire 25,000 euro prize to the International Complement Society, directing it toward the Lambris scholarships he established in 2012 to support young researchers in the field. In accepting the award, he quoted Socrates and invoked Nikos Kazantzakis, saying that curiosity may start the journey but science, collaboration, and persistence are what turn it into discovery. On the rejections, his message was direct: don't let a rejection decide whether an idea is worth pursuing. #Greece #Science #GreekPride