Definiens AG Release: Gerd Binnig Awarded 2016 Kavli Prize

Founder and CTO of Definiens Recognized For Transformative Impact On Science

MUNICH--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Kavli Prize Committee has announced the award of the Kavli Prize in Nanoscience to Gerd Binnig, Christoph Gerber, and Calvin Quate “for the invention and realization of atomic force microscopy, a breakthrough in measurement technology and nanosculpting that continues to have a transformative impact on nanoscience and technology.” The Kavli Prizes recognize scientists for pioneering advances of the understanding of the universe at its biggest, smallest, and most complex scales. Laureates are chosen by committees whose members are recommended by six of the world’s most renowned science societies and academies.

“for the invention and realization of atomic force microscopy, a breakthrough in measurement technology and nanosculpting that continues to have a transformative impact on nanoscience and technology.”

The breakthrough of the atomic force microscope (AFM) combined the principles of scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) with the invention of the stylus profilometer to achieve atomic resolution. STM was a breakthrough invented by Binnig together with Heinrich Rohrer earlier for which they both received the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1986.

Commented Binnig, “I have always been interested in how to make the invisible, visible. It is gratifying to see that these inventions have had wide impact by not only kicking-off the field of nanotechnology, but also in biology with the AFM enabling the measurements of dynamic processes of individual molecules like proteins and of interaction forces within and between those biomolecules.”

Binnig is the founder and CTO of Definiens AG. The past few years he has been working to advance the field of cancer therapy and immuno-oncology using the Cognition Network Technology®, invented by the Definiens team he leads, to mine tissue data and discover new signatures to stratify patients and match them to therapies. For more information on the Kavli Prize, please see www.kavliprize.org. For more information on Definiens, please see www.definiens.com.

About Definiens

Definiens is the pioneering provider of Tissue Phenomics® solutions for biomarker and companion diagnostics development and commercialization. Definiens’ technology empowers smarter tissue-based diagnostics by leveraging quantitative tissue readouts and other big data sources. By enabling the development of powerful and precise assays for patient stratification and clinical trial enrollment, Definiens aims to dramatically improve patient outcomes. Definiens' Tissue Phenomics approach was awarded the 2013 Frost and Sullivan Company of the Year Award for Global Tissue Diagnostics and Pathology Imaging. For more information, please visit: www.definiens.com