23.05.2025 Publication award 2025 of the Else Kröner-Fresenius Foundation to Susanne Meinert

The Else Kröner-Fresenius Foundation (EKFS) honored five outstanding scientists for particularly excellent publications in 2024.

Dr. Susanne Meinert (Institute of Translational Psychiatry, University of Münster) receives the Publication Award of the Else Kröner-Fresenius Foundation 2025 for her paper “Associations between white matter microstructure and cognitive decline in major depressive disorder versus controls in Germany: a prospective case-control cohort study” published with Kira Flinkenflügel and Prof. Dannlowski in Lancet Psychiatry (DOI: 10.1016/S2215-0366(24)00291-8). 

The award winner Dr. Susanne Meinert.

Cognitive deficits such as concentration and memory problems affect people with depression not only in acute phases of the disease, but often beyond. The most comprehensive long-term study on this topic to date with 881 participants (418 of whom had depression) now shows that those affected suffer from more severe cognitive deficits. At the same time, the integrity of central brain fiber connections decreases more rapidly over time. These changes as well as an unfavorable course of the disease (e.g. more phases of illness during the study period) independently predicted a further deterioration in cognitive performance. The results, which proved to be extremely robust despite numerous statistical corrections, underline that changes in brain structure and the prevention of new depressive episodes are key starting points for future therapies.

We warmly congratulate Dr. Meinert on the honoring of her work!