19.10.2026 A Highlight of Pharmahistorical Research: 47th International Congress of the History of Pharmacy

With numerous academic papers, our Institute was well represented at the 47th International Congress on the History of Pharmacy in Innsbruck. In addition to two keynote lectures by Prof. Dr. Tanja Pommerening and Dr. Christiane Staiger (co-opted member of the Institute), as well as a plenary lecture by Marta Chervinka, the Marburg team presented three lectures (Birgit Steinke, Prof. Dr. Christoph Friedrich, Dr. Christiane Staiger) and five posters in the context of the breakout sessions.

Particularly noteworthy is the success of Veronica Zampedri, M.A., who was awarded second prize for her poster ‘From the papyri and cuneiform tablets to the laboratory: Re-enactments of ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian recipes for treating worm-related illnesses’. The research was carried out in collaboration with Johannes Cieluch (Pharmaceutical Chemistry), Prof. Dr. Raphael Reher (Pharmaceutical Biology) and Prof. Dr. Tanja Pommerening. Third prize went to Alexander Hillebrand for his poster ‘Secret trade routes of pharmaceuticals during the Second World War’, a project supervised by Adjunct Professor Dr. Axel Helmstädter.

Our co-opted institute member, Dr. Christiane Staiger, has been elected to the Académie Internationale d’Histoire de la Pharmacie (AIHP) in recognition of her academic achievements. At the same meeting, Associate Professor Dr. Axel Helmstädter was awarded the ‘Schelenz Plaque’ by the German Society for the History of Pharmacy (DGGP) for his long-standing contributions to the field.

We congratulate everyone on their achievements. Furthermore, we are already looking forward to the next conference in Frankfurt, which will take place in two years’ time.