Sebapharma GmbH & Co. KG honored three German skin researchers with the Heinz Maurer Award,
which carries a total award of 20,000 euros, for their outstanding scientific work on the topic of
“Modification of the Skin Surface and Barrier Function.” With this prestigious research award, the
manufacturer of the medical skincare brand sebamed – with products adjusted to a pH value of
5.5—has been promoting progress in dermatological science for many years. The award ceremony
took place on July 10, 2026. Prof. Dr. med. Wolfgang Gehring, chair of the jury and honorary member
of the scientific advisory board of Sebapharma GmbH & Co. KG, along with Dr. Daniel Rothoeft, vice
chair of Sebapharma GmbH & Co. KG, presented the certificates to Prof. Dr. Dr. Natalie Garzorz-Stark
from Freiburg, Prof. Dr. Dr. Felix Lauffer from Munich, and Prof. Dr. Daniela Kramer from Mainz.
Prof. Garzorz-Stark and Prof. Lauffer were honored for their study Skin Lipid-Microbe Interplay Links
Staphylococcus hominis to Barrier Control in Adult Atopic Dermatitis, which was conducted as part of
a joint research project at the Technical University of Munich in collaboration with the Institute of
Environmental Medicine at the University of Augsburg and the company Lipotype.
In this study, the researchers conducted extensive lipid and microbiome analyses in patients with
atopic dermatitis and healthy control subjects. Using interaction networks, they demonstrated clear
correlations between the microbiome and the lipid profile on the skin, which differ between affected
skin, unaffected skin, and the skin of healthy subjects. Both lipids and the skin microbiome are
essential components of the skin barrier. In further laboratory experiments, the role of
Staphylococcus hominis in influencing lipid composition was examined in detail. Using three-
dimensional skin models and direct culture of Staphylococcus hominis with lipid swabs from affected
patients, it was demonstrated that Staphylococcus hominis directly influences lipid composition and
the expression of inflammatory genes in keratinocytes, thereby playing a key role in strengthening
the skin barrier. These findings thus lay the foundation for new, innovative research approaches in
which the skin’s barrier function can be strengthened, and inflammation in atopic dermatitis can be
reduced by modifying the microbiome and/or skin lipids.
Prof. Dr. Dr. Natalie Garzorz-Stark has been a senior attending physician and W3 professor of
Dermatoimmunology at the Department of Dermatology at the University Medical Center Freiburg
since 2024, as well as a co-founder and managing director of Dermagnostix GmbH, which develops
molecular diagnostic solutions. She combines clinical practice, research, and entrepreneurship to
advance precision medicine for chronic inflammatory skin diseases.
Prof. Dr. Dr. Felix Lauffer heads the Inflammatory Dermatoses Division at the Department of
Dermatology and Allergology at the LMU Medical Center. This division includes the psoriasis, atopic
dermatitis, and autoimmune clinics, as well as the phototherapy unit and the allergology unit. His
laboratory focuses on the interaction between immune cells and resident skin cells, as well as
mechanisms of cell death and inflammation in chronic inflammatory skin diseases.
Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Daniela Kramer also received the Heinz Maurer Award. Together with her research
group located at the Department of Dermatology of the University Medical Center in Mainz, she was
able to demonstrate in the publication NOD2-Induced IκBζ Mediates a Protective Host Response
against Epicutaneous Staphylococcus aureus Infection —which was honored with the Heinz Maurer
Award—the induction and function of IκBζ (NF-κB inhibitor zeta) as a central transcriptional cofactor that maintains the skin barrier and controls host immune responses against bacterial infections. IκBζ
is a nuclear, inducibly expressed cofactor of NF-κB (nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of
activated B cells) that is required to induce a subset of genes in skin cells that perform important
functions as part of the immune response and in the formation of the mechanical skin barrier.
Following infection with Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), the intracellular receptor NOD2
(nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-containing protein 2) is activated, which specifically
induces IκBζ. This induces or increases the expression of cytokines and chemokines, as well as AMPs
(antimicrobial peptides) and protein components of the “cornified envelope,” to strengthen the
mechanical barrier against pathogens and to elicit an effective immune response against S. aureus.
Since 2023, Prof. Kramer has been appointed as a W2 Professor of Molecular Dermatology and Aging
Research at the Department of Dermatology at Mainz University Medical Center. She is also laureate
of the Peter-Hans Hofschneider professorship donated by the Foundation of Experimental
Biomedicine. Moreover, she is a principal investigator within the Collaborative Research Center TRR
156, which has been conducting highly successful research in the field of skin immunity for over 10
years.
About the Heinz Maurer Award
The Heinz Maurer Prize, awarded by Sebapharma GmbH & Co. KG, recognizes outstanding achievements in
dermatological research to contribute to the continuous advancement of science. The award recognizes
scientific publications on the topic of modifications to the skin’s surface and barrier function. In doing so,
Sebapharma GmbH & Co. KG—a manufacturer of skin cleansing and care products with a pH of
5.5—underscores its corporate principle of “Science for Healthy Skin.” The Heinz Maurer Award has been
conferred every two years since 1996. The initiator of this scientific award was Dr. Heinz Maurer, a physician
and the founder of Sebapharma GmbH & Co. KG, who passed away in 2016.
About Sebapharma
Sebapharma GmbH & Co. KG, founded in 1967 by Dr. Heinz Maurer, is the parent company of an internationally
active group of companies with more than 400 employees.
Thomas Maurer, the son of the company’s founder, serves as Chairman of the Executive Board. He is supported
by Dr. Daniel Rothoeft, who holds the position of Vice Chairman of the Executive Board. For nearly 60 years,
the company has been manufacturing medical skin cleansing and care products with a pH value of 5.5 under
the sebamed brand name. The company consistently avoids the use of microplastics in its products. Currently,
over 100 sebamed products are available in more than 100 countries. More than 400 clinical dermatological
studies confirm the consistent implementation of the founder’s goal: “Science for healthy skin.”